Jimmy Hickey Teaches How to Photograph a Stranger (Guest Post)

Note from Jim: I saw the video below last week as it was being passed around Pinterest (follow my photography boards here).  I have never written about street photography and photographing strangers before, so I contacted the creator of the video and asked him to share his best tips for photographing strangers here on Improve Photography.

                             

Photographing a stranger is something that is intimidating to a lot of photographers, and it’s completely understandable why. We are injecting ourselves into another persons life, and they might or might not be willing to let us photograph them. We might get turned down or forced to be in an awkward situation. But this struggle is something that is really fascinating because in a few short moments you can go from barely knowing someone, to creating an image with them that captures their true personality in photographic form. The photo captures automatically a little splinter of this persons existence, but a strong photo captures so much more.

Photographing strangers has always been a passion of mine from the first time I did it on the streets of Seattle until just yesterday while driving home in the Columbia River Gorge, and I am sure it will remain on my favorite thing to do list for a long, long time. I just turned 21, but I’ve been photographing strangers for years, it’s made me an animal. There’s some rules to this game, I wrote a manual. These four steps are what I use every time I want to photograph a stranger, and work well to both get the stranger to let you photograph them, and create a strong photograph in the process.

street photography

The Idea of Photographing Strangers 
You see a interesting person on the side of the road, before you stop the car, you must have an idea of the shot you want to create of this person. What will they be doing, how will they be posed, what will be in the background, what will the image represent etc. You need an idea before you commit to stopping this person and requiring time out of their day.

The Approach

Be confident, not just in your speaking skills, but in body language and overall presence. Be careful not to be too intimidating, and for sure not too afraid. You have to realize that they are going to be equally intimidated by your presence most of the time, if not more because you have a camera. So make the stranger feel comfortable, but feel you are a confident, successful, photographer, and they should be honored you want to create a frame with them. Start with a simple greeting, introduce yourself to them and mention why you want to photograph them. Some time people will be amazed that you noticed something unique about them, other times they will be somewhat smug and understand that they look “cool”. A simply opener I use is

“Hi, my name is Jimmy Hickey and I am a photographer based out of Portland Oregon. I’m working on a project photographing interesting people I meet no my travels. I noticed you biking on the side of the road and immediately thought I needed to photograph you. Would you mind if we talked for a little bit and I took a few photos of you? It should only take a few minutes then you’ll be on your way”

Obviously there is a lot of room to add in your own story and ideas, but that line has led to the majority of my shoots with strangers. The approach is intimidating at first, but does get better over time. You will only get better if you practice. Practice often, take photos of as many different strangers as you can and slowly you will get better and better at it. In regard to the time of the shoot, be sure to always mention that the shoot will only take a few minutes, you don’t know this persons schedule and they could be busy. But when you mention that it will only take a few minutes people are a lot more open to the scenario. If the location you are in isn’t ideal, suggest a quick move to a better shooting spot, but never more then a 10-30 yards, any more than that is a bit much. Plan your approach according to where you want to shoot them if possible. If the stranger says “no”, thank them for their time and send them on their way.

Man on motorcycle

The Creation
The best part! The actual creation of photographic images! This parts simple, TALK. Just ask them questions, get them talking about themselves. Ask questions relative to what they are wearing or where they are going or what they are doing. Ask them to expand on ideas and concepts. Just be a good listener, and be sure to ask relevant questions so they know you are paying attention. You need to make your subject feel comfortable. A photo of someone who is not at ease in front of the camera is going to be a bad photo. Keep the conversation positive and the shoot will go in a good direction. While all this is going on, study your subject, take some frames and just figure out the best way to capture them. Do not hide behind your camera, be sure to put the camera down (if they are not in a mega hurry) and talk for a few seconds before raising it back up. Once you have figured how to create the best image with them, don’t be afraid to ask them to pose a certain way or do a certain thing with their face at this time. Then simply take the best shot of your subject you possible can.

The Closing

After creating some gold, time to wrap her up! Show them an image, they will hopefully be excited about it. Thank them for their time, give them your business card or some way to contact you to see the photos. Ask if they would like a copy sent to them and if so SEND IT! Model releases are good ideas, and something I didn’t do originally with my strangers. Immediately write down any important details so you do not forget them over time. Do a write up if it was an interesting experience asap.

That simple!  It’s an intimidating process, but can be used to create some really strong photographs that would not have been created otherwise. 

One of my favorite stranger encounters:

This image represents everything I love about photography.

Street photography of a stranger

I traveled to Northern California, checked in to our motel room and no more than five minutes after getting settled in I saw this man getting out of his truck. Shirt off, cowboy hat, sweet beard, big belt buckle…having been busy this past month with paid work, I really haven’t had the time to dedicate the personal work I love to create.

I grabbed my camera, took my shirt off to fit in, and headed in his direction. I saw his Marine sticker on his rig and thanked him for his service. From there our conversation branched in to all subjects of life. The Cowboy, who’s name he wished to remain anonymous (but he did consider himself a cowboy and his nick name includes Cowboy), owns a horse ranch in Northern California as well as around 70 peacocks. He served in Vietnam and is currently taking the stock market for all it’s worth. He has survived multiple heart attacks and open heart surgery. To top it off, he is a bounty hunter for some pretty serious clients and wanted people. 95% of all money made through that goes into his foundation (again that I can’t name it, however it basically makes the world a better place)

We spoke for an hour about all sorts of things. There was never a dull moment. It was a extremely insightful and beautiful conversation. Despite the 97 degree heat beating down on my back.

Towards the end of the conversation I mentioned my love for capturing interesting people in photographs, and said I would be honored if I could take his portrait. He agreed under the condition that I kept his name private. We walked 10 feet away from where we were standing and created this frame.

I only shot for about 2 minutes, I knew the image I wanted in the location we had. He finished our conversation about a story from his experience in Vietnam.

He was assigned to take care of a small village. While there he handed out supplies to the people there. When he gave a small girl a wrapped bar of soap, she took it, and began eating it. At this point in the story, the hardened cowboy started to cry. This image was only captured by my eyes and only stored in my brain.

Traveling speaking, learning, befriending and capturing complete strangers. Every one of these encounters is an experience I take something important from, more than just an image. The worlds an amazing place and I am humbled by some of the people that inhabit this place.

SOURCE  : improve photography

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Give Yourself an Honest Portfolio Review

Stage One Photographer

Beginning photographers can easily be spotted because they don’t know enough about the technical side of photography to do much with the camera, so they really only concern themselves with the person being photographed.

How to spot a stage one photographer…

• They consider a photograph “good” when they captured an interesting expression on someone’s face, or something random or rare that occurred (like a fire or a UFO).  You can spot this from a mile away, because when looking at their portfolio, the photographer looks over your shoulder and starts explaining things in the picture because he failed to tell the story with the photo.
• The photos are rarely sharp enough to show fine detail on the photos and all of them are taken from standing height
• None of the photos show any artistic flair.  The photos would look the same if taken by any person who was standing in the same spot.
• Almost all of the photographer’s portraits are zoomed way out.
• If the photographer does any post-processing, it is spot color (all black and white except one item in the photo that is color).

Stage Two Photographer

Stage two photographers have gotten lucky a few times, and their pictures have been applauded by friends and family; however, they find themselves caught up in so many little tips and rules of photography that they manage to miss out on the biggest pieces.  For example, they find a beautiful landscape and concern themselves so much with the camera settings that they fail to notice that they are shooting in TERRIBLE lighting, or that the composition is dull.  Soon, they must learn that lighting and composition are more important than anything else.

How to spot a stage two photographer…

• Some photos in the portfolio are slightly blurry or have other technical issues.  The photog at this stage is still paying so much attention to the subject that he frequently skips over the essentials.

• Few of the photos in the portfolio have interesting lighting.
• The photographer is happy with the pictures because they have started to use shallow depth-of-field in their portraits.
• The photographer might follow the rule of thirds… but ignores the fact that sometimes the most interesting composition does not follow any “rule”.
• The photographer takes out the camera for a picture when he sees an interesting PERSON or LANDSCAPE, but not when the photographer sees interesting lighting, shapes, or compositions.
• Some of the photos are still taken from too far away, but other photos in the portfolio are zoomed in to the extreme.
• Their portraits are posed with the subject placed right next to a “really pretty bush.”
• Their favorite post-processing technique is spot color (all black and white except one piece of the photo in color).

Stage Three Photographer

By this point, the photographer has started to clue into the fact that lighting is a big deal.  They stop taking landscapes in the middle of the day and at least find shade to shoot portraits to avoid ugly harsh shadows.   Most of their pictures look better than an average person could do, and they are beginning to be known by friends and family as a photographer.

How to spot a stage three photographer…

• Their best photos are macro shots of flowers.  At some point they need to realize that photos of flowers are EASY.
• Their photos almost always incorporate good lighting, but they occasionally leave one in there with bad lighting because they really liked the subject, or because they have some sort of “war story” from the shoot that makes them especially fond of the photo.
• A few of the photos in the portfolio look quite good, but most of them are just “nice.”
• When the photos are shown to friends or family members, they have said things like, “Wow!  You could sell that!”
• Stage three photographers are always eyeing the 5D Mark III or D800, and secretly tell themselves that their photos will finally be professional if they just had the right equipment.
• They have entered the world of Photoshop and post-processing and can do some really neat tricks, but a professional would look at the photos and clearly see the image quality being ruined by untrained hands.  When I look through portfolios, I’m amazed how many pictures are WAY over-sharpened, grainy, or where the colors are all messed up.  This makes it easy to spot a stage three photographer.

Stage Four Photographer

Stage Four Photographers are just on the cusp of consistently producing professional work, but they still have some baby habits deeply ingrained in their heads.  These photographers are known by most of their family and friends as a “really serious photographer” and have at least considered going pro.  They spend a tremendous amount of time or effort working to get their work noticed by others, but have a tough time drawing as many eyeballs to their work as they would like.

How to spot a stage four photographer…

• Most of their photos look good only because they include some interesting style or technique, rather than being a photo that can stand on its own.   Often this means that 90% of the photos have creatively tilted horizons, over-processed HDR photos (which they always describe as a “really subtle HDR effect”), overly vibrant colors, are taken from extreme angles, or are weirdly wide panoramas.  There is nothing WRONG with these techniques, but it is obvious when a photographer is using them as a crutch, because only a few of the photos in the portfolio can stand on their own without one of these techniques.
• Every photo in their portfolio is quite good and any amateur photographer would be envious.
• None of the photos in their portfolio have technical problems.  Everything is sharply focused, properly exposed, and most (but not all) of their poor Photoshop habits have gone by the wayside so their image quality is now quite good.
• They have been asked by people who are NOT family members, friends, or co-workers to shoot an event for them or to buy their photos.
• The photographer rarely notices it, but a trained eye sees many distracting elements in the photos that take away from the overall picture.

Stage Five Photographers

While these photographers are not all full-time pros, they are capable of consistently producing truly professional-quality work.  People can’t take their eyes off the photos they see from these photographers, and people often ask if the image was “Photoshopped” because the post-processing adds interest without creating surrealism.  They recognize that gear is fun to talk about and buy, but find themselves scaling back to just the essentials on many of their shoots.

How to spot a stage five photographer…

• Every shot in the portfolio has perfect image quality (no graininess or wacko effects added in post-processing) and is shot with perfect technical skill.
• The photographer is capable of shooting any event and returning with very good pictures that have interesting lighting.
• The compositions of these photographers are mature and make the photo feel put-together and solid without being too extreme.
• Each element in the frame is carefully placed and no distracting elements have slipped their way into the frame.  Each item in the photo plays a specific role in the overall composition.
• The photos are not just “correct” or good, or even really good–they are jaw-droppingly good.
• The photographer’s portraits are not only nice looking, but they actually communicate something about the person being photographed.  They truly “tell a story.”

Stage Six Photographers

These photographers have grown bored of taking “professional quality” pictures.  It is no longer challenging to go somewhere and create work that is impressive to others.  They find their drive to continue learning photography in challenging themselves with specific techniques and styles.

How to spot a stage six photographer…

• Their work is no longer “random” with one sports picture, then a wildlife shot, then a landscape, etc.  All of the photos in the portfolio go together and you can spot the photographer’s style coming through in the work.
• The photographers can create art without the crutch of a beautiful subject, even if that is what they choose to take pictures of.
• They create photography for their enjoyment and the praise of others has at least deadened some.

The Takeaway

I hope that, by posting this, no one feels discouraged in their photography.  Portfolio reviews are not about seeing if you “measure up.”  They are intended to help you along your way in becoming the type of photographer that you want to be.

I hope you take the information from this post–realizing that it is the culmination of reviewing hundreds of portfolios–and decide on at least one thing you can do to become better.

What did you learn from this?  Be honest with yourself and share in the comments below.  I’m anxious to see what struck a chord with you.

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Daimler Riding Car, 1885. The World’s First Motorbike.

Gottlieb Daimler and his ingenious colleague Wilhelm Maybach moved to Cannstatt near Stuttgart in 1882. Differences between the fifty-year-old Nikolaus August Otto and Daimler, two years his junior, had led to the latter’s departure from the Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz on the outskirts of Cologne. Now a wealthy man Daimler, could afford to make himself independent.

For 75,000 Goldmarks he bought a villa in Taubenheimstrasse in Cannstatt and moved there with his wife Emma and five children in June 1882. The property was ideal for his purposes: not only was it directly next to the spa facilities Daimler regularly visited for treatment for his weak heart, but it also benefited from a large garden and spacious summer house. He had an extension added to the latter, and installed a gas and water supply – his test workshop was ready.

In early October, Maybach also arrived in Cannstatt. He moved into a nearby property and initially converted one room of his apartment into a design office. Here he kept the drawing board on which he turned Daimler’s ideas into technical drafts: Maybach was skilled at giving them a functional form – and Daimler knew the value of his technician. When the two men agreed a contract even before leaving Deutz, Maybach was guaranteed substantial remuneration.

The goal shared by the two men was to develop a small, lightweight high-speed engine that was above all suitable for powering a vehicle. They were not alone, however. All around the world others were working on the same idea.

In 1885, the so-called riding car was built in Gottlieb Daimler's workshop as a test unit to prove the suitability of Daimler's and Wilhelm Maybach's gas or petroleum engine for everyday use.

Without knowing of each other’s work, Daimler and Benz had by this time already come to a common starting point: they both opted for petrol as the fuel for their engines and they would be the first to realise their efforts. The decision to use this fuel, which had excellent combustion characteristics, was fundamental to their internal combustion engines for vehicles.

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Leonid Rogozov - The Surgeon Who Operated on Himself

In April, 29th, 1961 a doctor of the 6th Soviet Antarctic expedition Leonid Rogozov aged 27 felt pain in a right lower belly and fever. The next day brought only exasperation. Having no chance to call a plane and being the only doctor at the station “Novolazarevskaya”, at night, in April, 30th the surgeon made an appendix removal operation on himself using local anesthesia. He was assisted by an engineer and the station’s meteorologist.

In 1959 Leonid Rogozov graduated from the Institute and was immediately accepted to the surgery clinical residency. However, his studies at the residency were broken off for some time due to Leonid’s trip to Antarctica in September, 1960 as a doctor of the 6th Soviet Antarctic expedition to Novolazarevskaya station.

During this expedition there happened an event that made a 27-year old surgeon world-famous.

In the 4th month of the wintering, in April, 29th, 1961, Leonid showed disturbing symptoms: weakness, nausea, fever and pain in a right iliac region. The following day his temperature got even higher. Being the only doctor in the expedition consisting of 13 people, Leonid diagnosed himself: acute appendicitis. There were no planes at any of the nearest stations, besides, adverse weather conditions would not allow to fly to Novolazarevskaya anyway. In order to save the sick member of a polar expedition there was needed an urgent operation on site. And the only way out was to operate on himself.

At night, on the 30th of April, 1961, the surgeon was being helped by a mechanical engineer and a meteorologist who were giving him the medical instruments and holding a small mirror at his belly. Lying half bent on the left side, the doctor made a local anesthesia with novocaine solution and made a 12cm incision in the right iliac region with a scalpel. Either watching in the mirror or by touch he removed an inflamed appendix and injected antibiotic in the abdominal cavity. In 30 or 40 minutes from the beginning of the operation there developed a faint and giddiness and the surgeon had to make pauses for some rest. Nevertheless, by midnight the operation lasting 1 hour and 45 minutes was over. In five days the temperature normalized, in two days more – the stitches were taken out.

In the St. Petersburg Museum of the Arctic and the Antarctic there is an exposure of surgical instruments that Leonid Rogozov applied for this uneasy operation.

An astronaut-pilot of the USSR, a Hero of the Soviet Union, German Titov wrote in his book “My blue planet”:

“In our country an exploit is life itself.

… We admire the Soviet doctor Boris Pastukhov, who injected himself with plague vaccine before applying it on the sick people: we envy the courage of the Soviet doctor Leonid Rogozov who made an appendix removal operation on himself in the hard conditions of the Antarctic expedition.

Sometimes I reflect upon this in solitude and ask myself if I could do the same and only one answer comes to my mind: “I would do my best…”

source : doctorshangout.com

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Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama, the Lord Buddha, was born in 623 B.C. in the famous gardens of Lumbini, Nepal. The site is now being developed as a Buddhist pilgrimage centre, where the archaeological remains associated with the birth of the Lord Buddha form a central feature.

Justification for Inscription
The Committee decided to inscribe this site on the basis of criteria (iii) and (vi). As the birthplace of the Lord Buddha, the sacred area of Lumbini is one of the holiest places of one of the world's great religions, and its remains contain important evidence about the nature of Buddhist pilgrimage centres from a very early period.
Long Description
As the birthplace of the Lord Buddha - the apostle of peace and the light of Asia was born in 623 BC - the sacred area of Lumbini is one of the holiest places of one of the world's great religions, and its remains contain important evidence about the nature of Buddhist pilgrimage centres from a very early period. Lumbini, in the South-Western Terai of Nepal, evokes a kind of holy sentiment to the millions of Buddhists all over the world, like Jerusalem to Christians and Mecca to Muslims.

Lumbini is the place where the Buddha, known as the Tathagata, was born. It is the place which should be visited and seen by a person of devotion and which should cause awareness and apprehension of the nature of impermanence. The site and its surrounding area is endowed with a rich natural setting of domesticable fauna and favourable agricultural environ. Historically, the region is an exquisite treasure-trove of ancient ruins and antiquities, dating back to the pre-Christian era. The site, described as a beautiful garden in the Buddha's time, still retains its legendary charm and beauty.

The birthplace of the Gautama Buddha, Lumbini, is one of the four holy places of Buddhism. It is said in the Parinibbana Sutta that Buddha himself identified four places of future pilgrimage: the sites of his birth, Enlightenment, First Discourse, and death. All these events happened outside in nature under trees. There is no particular significance in this, other than it perhaps explains why Buddhists have always respected the environment and natural law.

Lumbini is situated at the foothills of the Himalayas in modern Nepal. In the Buddha's time, Lumbini was a beautiful garden full of green and shady sal trees (Shorea robusta ). The garden and its tranquil environs were owned by both the Shakyas and the clans. King Suddhodana, father of Gautama Buddha, was of the Shakya dynasty and belonged to the Kshatriya (warrior caste). Maya Devi, his mother, gave birth to the child on her way to her parent's home in Devadaha while resting in Lumbini under a sal tree in the month of May, 642 BC. The beauty of Lumbini is described in Pali and Sanskrit literature. Maya Devi, it is said, was spellbound to see the natural grandeur of Lumbini. While she was standing, she felt labour pains and catching hold of a drooping branch of a sal tree, she gave birth to a baby, the future Buddha.

In 249 BC, when the Indian Emperor Ashoka visited Lumbini, it was a flourishing village. Ashoka constructed four stupas and a stone pillar with a figure of a horse on top. The stone pillar bears an inscription, which in translation runs as follows: 'King Piyadasi (Ashoka), beloved of devas, in the 20th year of the coronation, himself made a royal visit, Buddha Sakyamuni having been born here; a stone railing was built and a stone pillar erected to the Bhagavan having been born here, Lumbini village was taxed reduced and entitled to the eight part (only)'.

Lumbini remained neglected for centuries. In 1895, Feuhrer, a famous German archaeologist, discovered the great pillar while wandering about the foothills of the Churia range. Further exploration and excavation of the surrounding area revealed the existence of a brick temple and sandstone sculpture within the temple itself, which depicts the scenes of the Buddha's birth.

It is pointed out by scholars that the temple of Maya Devi was constructed over the foundations of more than one earlier temple or stupa, and that this temple was probably built on an Ashokan stupa itself. To the south of the Maya Devi temple there is the famous sacred bathing pool known as Puskarni. It is believed that Maya Devi took a bath in this pool before the delivery. By the side of the Ashoka pillar a river which flows south-east and is locally called the Ol. In 1996, an archaeological dig unearthed a 'flawless stone' placed there by Ashoka in 249 BC to mark the precise location of the Buddha's birth more than 2,600 years ago. if authenticated, the find will put Lumbini even more prominently on the map for millions of religious pilgrims.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
Historical Description
The Shakya Prince Siddharta Gautama, better known as the Lord Buddha, was born to Queen Mayadevi, wife of King Suddodhana, ruler of Kapilavastu, in 623 BC at the famous gardens of Lumbini, while she was on a journey from her husband's capital of Tilaurakot to her family home in Devadaha.
In 249 BC the devout Buddhist Emperor Ashoka, third of the Mauryan rulers of India, made a pilgrimage to this very sacred area in company with his teacher, Upagupta, and erected pillars at Lumbini, Gotihawa, and Niglihawa, as he did in many parts of India, to commemorate his visit. The inscription on the Lumbini pillar identifies this as the birthplace of the Lord Buddha.

Lumbini was a site of pilgrimage until the 15th century AD. Its early history is well documented in the accounts of Chinese travellers, notably Fa Hsien (4th century AD) and Hsuan Tsang (7th century AD), who described the temples, stupas, and other establishments that they visited there. In the early 14th century King Ripu Malla recorded his pilgrimage in the form of an additional inscription on the Ashoka pillar.
The reasons for its ceasing to attract Buddhist pilgrims after the 15th century remain obscure. The only local cult centred on worship of a 3rd-4th century image of Mayadevi as a Hindu mother goddess. The Buddhist temples fell into disrepair and eventually into ruins, not to be rediscovered until they were identified in 1896 by Dr A Fiihrer and Khadga Samsher, then Governor of Palpa, who discovered the Ashoka pillar.

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15 Photos Of Most Dangerous Walkway in the World

15 Photos Of Most Dangerous Walkway in the World

Did you ever seen such a dangerous walkway..?? El Caminito del Rey (also known as The King’s Walkway) can be considered most dangerous walkway in the world. El Caminito del Rey was built in 1901 as a connection between the power plants of Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls. It took four years to finish and in 1905 Alfonso XIII, King of Spain, crossed the walkway for the inauguration, thus giving it its name, The King’s Walkway.

Built along the steep walls of a narrow gorge, in the Malaga region, El Caminito del Rey has deteriorated severely in the last years and after four people died crossing it, in 1999 and 2000, the authorities decided to close it off to tourists. It’s only 1 meter wide and it stands 300 meters above the river floating in the area. Onlly a small part of the walkway has handrails and much of the concrete walkway has collapsed, leaving only the steel beam that originally held it up.

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How to Color Calibrate Your Monitor for Photo Editing

Computer monitors do their best to reproduce colors and brightnesses correctly, but each one is slightly different.  In fact, a screen even reproduces photos differently when it starts up compared to the way colors and brightnesses look after the monitor has been running for a while.

This is a serious problem for photographers.  We are careful to set the white balance properly in Photoshop or Lightroom, but what good does it do if your screen is not properly calibrated?  Answer–none!  The same is true for adjusting color saturation, brightness, and just about everything else.

Here's a photo I edited before and after color calibrating. See the difference? Which side do you think is the color calibrated one? If your screen isn't calibrated, it can be hard to tell!

Does everyone need to calibrate their monitor?
Probably not.  If you’re just a hobbyist photographer who is learning the ropes, this probably isn’t the biggest fish you have to fry.  There are many more important things to learn in photography than color calibration; however, if you’re more serious of a photographer and want to know that your photos look their best… then it’s time to calibrate!

I will note, however, that not all photographers agree on screen calibration.  Dustin likes to do the manual calibration,  I prefer to use the screen calibrator.  It gives us something to argue about while we’re barbecuing.

Is monitor calibration only for printing?  Will it mess up my photos on the web?

No way!  The purpose of calibration is to make sure that your eye sees the photo the same way on your screen as others will see it.  For printing, you can be sure that by calibrating your screen your photo will look very close to how it looked on your computer screen.

However, when you edit on a calibrated screen and then post your photo online, it does not mean that everyone else will see the photo properly.  Their screens are most likely uncalibrated, but it is still important to calibrate.  Why?  Because computer monitor manufacturers strive to make their products reproduce colors properly, so by color calibrating, you’ll be at neutral even if some screens are off one way and others are off another way.

There is a caveat, however.  Almost without exception, computer monitors are kept brighter than a calibrated screen.  So if I edit a photo on a calibrated device, it will likely show up a TINY BIT darker on uncalibrated monitors.  Most people find that they like their screens pretty bright.  The way that I avoid this is to simply brighten my photos a TINY bit in Photoshop or Lightroom before posting on the web since I know most people will be viewing the photo on a brighter screen.

What if my monitor can’t adjust enough?

It is possible that your monitor will be off enough and not have the necessary adjustments that it couldn’t be properly calibrated.  However, the way that the color calibration tool that I personally use works, is that it simply saves a new color profile on your machine, so there is no need at all to adjust settings on the screen.  It does everything for you.

What tool do you recommend for color calibration?

No doubt, what you’re looking for is the Spyder 4 Express from DataColor.  Color calibration tools often cost over $1,000, but this little piece of love does the job for around $110.  I personally use the Spyder color calibrator and it works VERY well.  The one I use is the “Elite” not the express, but most people probably can get away just fine with the Express.  I really like the free software that comes with the tool.  It walks you through the process step-by-step and makes it amazingly simple.  You can easily calibrate the screen in just 3 minutes.

Is there a free option for color calibration?

Yep!  Windows 7 comes with a monitor calibration tool built-in.  The trouble with this and many other tools is that it is quite subjective and inaccurate, but it might be a good option for photographers who don’t want to spend a load of money on a color calibration device.  This will at least get you closer.

On Windows 7, go to  Start > Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Display > Calibrate Color.  Then open that program which will walk you through how to get a ROUGH approximation of a calibrated screen.

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How to Become a Photographer

Post-secondary education is not required for portrait photographers. Photojournalists and industrial and scientific photographers often need a bachelor’s degree. Employers usually seek applicants with a “good eye” and creativity, as well as a good technical understanding of photography.
Education : 
Although formal education is not required for most photographers, many take classes or earn a bachelor’s degree in a related field, which can improve their skills and employment prospects.
Many universities, community and junior colleges, vocational–technical institutes, and private trade and technical schools offer classes in photography. Basic courses in photography cover equipment, processes, and techniques. Art schools may offer useful training in photographic design and composition.

Portrait photographers take pictures
    of individuals or groups of people and usually work in their own studios.

Entry-level positions in photojournalism or in industrial or scientific photography generally require a college degree in photography or in a field related to the industry in which the photographer seeks employment. For example, classes in biology, medicine, or chemistry may be useful for scientific photographers.
Business, marketing, and accounting classes can be helpful for self-employed photographers.
Training : 
Photographers often start working as an assistant to a professional photographer. This work provides an opportunity to gain experience, build their portfolio, and gain exposure to prospective clients.
For many artists, including photographers, developing a portfolio—a collection of an artist’s work that demonstrates his or her styles and abilities—is essential. This portfolio is necessary because art directors, clients, and others look at an artist’s portfolio when deciding whether to hire or contract with the photographer.
Important Qualities : 
Artistic ability. Photographers capture their subjects in images, and they must be able to evaluate the artistic quality of a photograph. Photographers need "a good eye"—the ability to use colors, shadows, shades, light, and distance to compose good photographs.
Business skills. Photographers must be able to plan marketing strategies, reach out to prospective clients, and anticipate seasonal employment.
Computer skills. Most photographers do their own postproduction work and must be familiar with photo editing software. They also use computers to keep a digital portfolio and to communicate with clients.
Customer service skills. Photographers must be able to understand the needs of their clients and propose solutions.
Detail-oriented skills. Photographers who do their own postproduction work must be careful not to overlook details and must be thorough when editing photographs. In addition, photographers accumulate many photographs and must maintain them in an orderly fashion.
Interpersonal skills. Photographers often photograph people. They must communicate effectively to achieve a certain composition in a photograph.

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Landscape Photography Tips Video: Creative Composition

Watch video here :                    

In this short 5-minute video, Jim Harmer walks through the steps to create a stunning landscape photo.  Follow Jim as he takes a landscape picture on the beach in Naples, Florida and then takes the photo home to post-process the image using Lightroom 3 and Photoshop’s Adobe Camera Raw.

Creative photography tip for landscape photographers. Using a long exposure to show foreground movement in waves will create a sense of depth in your photos. The image is taken and then processed in Lightroom 3.

Photography Tips from this Video:

Photography Tip #1: Consider placing a foreground element very close to the camera.  This will add depth to the photo and draw the viewer into the scene.  Whenever you compose a landscape photo, remember: FOREGROUND, MID-GROUND, BACKGROUND.

Photography Tip #2:  If you’re near water, you can use the waves as a foreground element by using a slow shutter speed and using the motion blur to add interest to the photo.

Photography Tip #3: When the sun is about to rise, or right before the sun sets, there is hidden color in the sky that isn’t yet pronounced.  If you capture these delicately lit scenes in a RAW file, then you can bring out the hidden color in Photoshop’s Adobe Camera Raw, or in Lightroom 3.

Photography Tip #4: Using a tripod for landscape photos will make the fine details in the foreground more clear and sharp.

Photography Tip #5: Don’t get locked into only shooting from eye-level.  GET DOWN LOW to shoot landscapes!

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The Amazing Magnetic Boy

The Amazing Magnetic Boy is from the country of Serbia. This boy made international news for his paranormal ability to be “magnetic.”

According to The Daily Mail, he can hold household objects such as spoons, knives, and forks stuck to his skin with almost supernatural ease. Even stranger, other things stuck to him too, such as small plates and small flat glass objects. It was quite an unexplained mystery — until it was pointed out that whatever made the items to stick Bogdan’s bare skin, it was not magnetism, since many of the times were non-metallic. The mysterious ability was in fact due to simple skin friction.

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Shortest man from the land of tallest mountains (Nepal)

A 72-year-old man from Nepal who stands at just  54.6 cm (21.5 in)  tall has been named by Guinness World Records as the world’s new shortest living man.

Chandra Bahadur Dangi (all 21.5in of him) takes the record from 59.9 cm (23.5in) Junrey Balawing of the Philippines, who was crowned world’s shortest man last June.

Weighing 14.5kg Dangi has spent his entire life in the remote Nepalese mountain village of Rhimkholi, about 250 miles west of Kathmandu.

It was only after being spotted by a forest contractor cutting timber in the remote village that the little 72-year-old was brought to the attention of Guinness World Records which invited him to London to be measured.

In accordance with Guinness World Records guidelines, Chandra was measured three times in 24 hours (at the CIWEC Clinic Travel Medicine Center in Lainchaur) and his height confirmed to be 54.6 cm (21.5 in).

Speaking of the record Dangi said: "I’m very happy that I’m being recognized by Guinness World Records and that my name will be written in book.  It’s a big thing for my family, my village and my country.  I am very happy.

Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief, Craig Glenday, said: "I’m continually amazed that this record keeps getting broken.

"Just when you think it’s impossible for the record to get any smaller, Mr Chandra comes along and astonishes us all by being the shortest person ever measured.

"What I find equally remarkable is his age – if he really is 72, he is by far the oldest person to be awarded the shortest-man record in Guinness World Record’s 57-year history."

View more photos Here

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