Photography Clips

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but attention is not automatic. That is something I think about more and more when it comes to photography. We can make the photograph. We can print it, post it, frame it, share it, and send it out into the world. But none of that means anyone is required to stop and look. The viewer still has a choice... Podcast Notes: https://www.moneymakerphotography.co...

I do not think a photograph has to be famous to change you. It does not even have to be understood by anyone else. Sometimes an image works on you privately. You see it once, and for some reason, it stays around in your mind. You may not know why at first. You may not be able to explain what it did. But later, when you are holding a camera and standing in front of something ordinary, you realize t...

The camera only records what is in front of it, but the photograph begins before that. It begins when something makes me stop. Sometimes it is a certain kind of light. Sometimes it is a face in a crowd. Sometimes it is a shadow falling across a wall, making an ordinary place look different for a moment. Other times, it is something quiet that most people would walk past without giving it much thou...

I have always loved old photographs. There is something about them that pulls me in. A faded print. A family face. A place that no longer looks the same. A street corner that has changed. A house that is gone. A person who was young then and old now, or maybe no longer here at all. Photography has a way of keeping those things close. That is one of the reasons I love it. A photograph can take some...

Wedding photography is one of those subjects that can feel confusing before people even understand what they are paying for. One photographer may charge $500, while another may charge $5,000 or more. To many couples, that difference can feel overwhelming, especially when they are looking at online portfolios that all seem beautiful at first glance. I understand why professional photographers charg...

I've always asked questions. That's how I've learned most of what I know. I've asked other photographers. I've read. I've tried things. I've made mistakes. I've gone back and looked again. I've taken a photograph, wondered why it worked, then taken another one and wondered why it didn't. That's always been part of photography for me. I don't see "I don't know" as giving up. I see it as the start o...

By the time we reached this part of the semester in my Media Law class, the room felt different. Copyright had been structured. Privacy had been layered. But now we were talking about public confrontation. Cameras on sidewalks. Musicians are being recorded without permission. Journalists challenged by police. Business owners are angry about being filmed. The professor, who was a Pittsburgh-based m...

When I was studying videography and photography in college, I expected to spend most of my time thinking about lenses, lighting ratios, audio capture, and editing timelines. Then I walked into a Media Law class that changed the way I looked at everything I was creating. The professor was not just an academic. He was a practicing media lawyer. He represented music groups, photographers, and creativ...

When I was in college studying videography and photography, I expected most of my coursework to stay in the creative lane. Camera operation, lighting, editing, storytelling, and the technical side of building something visual that communicates. Then I took a class that was often called Media Law, sometimes labeled Mass Media Law or Communications Law, depending on the school. It pulled me into a d...

Digital photography, as we know it, has only been around for about two decades. In truth, however, its origins go much deeper than that. The 1990s saw the first commercially available digital cameras, but the technology that we so often take for granted – with its unlimited storage space, live view displays, and other conveniences – actually first came into being during the 1950s. It all started w...

When working with color photographs, it's easy to simply choose a dominant color or a color cast without thinking too much about why certain colors work and how they affect our perception of an image. However, when used skillfully, color can transform a dull image into something more dynamic. Color doesn't just set the mood. It creates a visually attractive image or makes certain elements within t...

In this day and age, digital photography is by far more popular than film. I must admit that I prefer digital photography for most of my work, too. However, that doesn't mean that film is without its advantages. I believe that every photographer should try film at least once. Here are the reasons why! Podcast Notes: https://www.moneymakerphotography.com/7-reasons-experiment-film-photography/ Photo...

When you look around at photography, whether it is printed or digital, your work or someone else's, you'll see that most prints are one of the common standard sizes or aspect ratios, and nearly all of them are rectangular, either horizontal or vertical. Those certainly aren't shapes that we are limited to, so why is it that prints nearly always come in these sizes? Let's examine some of the reason...

As a photographer, you'll never stop learning. However, finding new places or people to learn from is sometimes challenging. That is doubly true if you're unsure where to find quality photographs. The Internet is filled with websites and galleries open to everyone – Flickr.com is one example. Because anyone can post images, you'll soon find it difficult to sift the snapshots and amateur images fro...

Last time, I talked about the idea that another revolution in photography is coming. This thought is based on my observations across the history of photography. Every few decades—sometimes sooner—some new thing comes out that completely revolutionizes the way we do things—everything from 35mm cameras to color film to the advent of digital photography. There's no doubt we've seen a lot of these sha...

Photography is due for another revolution—and most likely, sooner rather than later. In fact, it may already be underway, and we don't quite see it yet. Why do I think that a revolution is coming? Well, the short answer is because history repeats itself. You see, if you look back over history, photography has gone through several very definitive growth stages. The first camera obscuras were made m...

In the beginning, photography was very scientific. Photographers and scientists came together, experimenting with light and chemistry in ways never before imagined. However, over time, creative thinkers adopted this new method of capturing light and turned it into one of history's greatest artistic media. There is no one photographer who is directly responsible for taking this science and turning...

How does one define the abstract? That's a question that artists have struggled with for centuries. In its purest form, an abstract photograph's subject is often unrecognizable. The beauty derives not from the subject itself, but from its shapes, textures or colors. The work of Henry Holmes Smith is a great example of this – many of his images are mysterious studies in light. Others – like this im...

Helen Levitt is one of my favorite street photographers. As a pioneer in photography, she had a natural propensity for capturing the essence of her subjects. Wonder, grace, joy, anguish, hope, and love are inscribed on the faces of her subjects, as clearly as if penned on paper. This raw emotion is the inspiration that transforms a photograph from a mere snapshot to a work of art, and this is the...

Why is it that we are driven to create art? Of course, there are hundreds, thousands, probably millions of reasons to create art – anything from personal motivations to causes that the artist supports or statements that need to be made. But there is one broad umbrella that most, if not all art falls under, I think. At its heart, art is made so that it can be enjoyed by others. Now, there is a prob...

When you think of creativity, it feels like it should be something random and spontaneous, something that is born out of a moment's inspiration. And, there are times when random creativity leads to groundbreaking art. I would argue, however, that the majority of creativity comes not from spontaneity, but from structure. You see, a lack of structure leads to things like uncertainty, wasted time and...

In the world of early American photography, few names carry the elegance and influence of Gertrude Käsebier (1852–1934). She is often hailed as one of the first American photographers to elevate portraiture to an art form. Her best-known works, particularly images of mothers and children, embody a tenderness and depth that was revolutionary for her time. Through her lens, she captured the emotiona...

Photography has this rare ability to tell a story, to let us glimpse into worlds we might otherwise never see. And few photographers did that quite like Lewis W. Hine. For anyone who loves photography, Hine's work is a testament to how powerful an image can be. He wasn't just taking pictures; he was documenting history, sparking reform, and, most importantly, giving a voice to people who were ofte...

When it comes to learning more about photography, the common wisdom is not only to take more photographs but also to read about photography, to take photography classes and workshops, and to speak with other photographers. And all of these things are great ways to learn—necessary, in fact. But there's a whole other world of art out there, some art forms far older than photography, and they each ha...

Photography can fill every corner of your life if you let it. Even when you are not shooting, you are thinking about shooting. You are noticing light in a window, framing scenes in your head, planning locations, sorting gear, editing, posting, and taking in other people's work. If photography is more than a casual hobby for you, it has a way of quietly becoming part of how you move through the day...