10. The image that came straight out of your camera is probably not good enough to be sold
Since the advent of photography, photographers have toiled over their images after the image was taken. In the film days, this meant hours in the darkroom. Today, it means Photoshop. That doesn't mean you need to manipulate the image beyond the point of recognizability (in fact, that's usually a sign of a bad photographer), but it does mean you need to understand about the basics of contrast, curves and levels.

Take time to retouch skin blemishes, fix fabric wrinkles, and remove the stray twig or gum wrapper.  Advertising agencies will pay more for these images, not only because they'll save retouching money, but because they just look better in the first place. Image sales are all about perception. If the image is perceived as being professional, the price will be received as being reasonable.

9. You need to become proficient in editing (and get a second opinion)
National Geographic photographers typically shoot 10,000 images per assignment for stories that only use 30 images in publication, and these are some of the best photographers in the world. If you are submitting the bulk of your images from a given shoot, you probably need to have a professional edit to unemotionally select the best images and get a dose of reality. Picture editing is as much an art as photography, and you can't get good at it without practice.

8. Have patience
Sales of some types of images can take months if not years. That's not to say that you will be waiting ten years for a sale, but think of your photos as some sort of farm crop. Depending on what you plant, they may be sold soon, like lettuce, or they may take years to mature, like Christmas trees.  Just remember that they are of no value at all if they are not online. And they're of even less value if you don't shoot them at all. Get out and plant shoots.

7. Real people love to sign releases
Really, they do. It makes them feel like "models".  It makes them feel beautiful. Don't hesitate to ask for a release because it opens up more avenues for licensing your images. They might not always consent to sign, but the worst they can say is no...

6. Consider the lowly thumbnail
How many times have you seen a store or restaurant with a crappy sign, and wondered why they don't realize that cleaning it up is the most important thing they could do to increase sales? It's just like that with your photos. The thumbnail is the first thing the client sees before "entering" your beautiful image. If it doesn't pop, it won't get a click. Start thinking about this when you are composing the image. Then think about it again when you're processing RAW's. Look at the thumbnails as you adjust for color. Make' em pop.

Over 750 applicants were under consideration for the 20 spots for our Shoot! On Location event on July 20th as a part of Shoot! The Day. The 20 chosen photographers will engage in a photo shoot based on five key image categories noted by image buyers as most depleted: active seniors, youth culture, family and kids, business settings and still life. The photographers will be led by expert instructors and armed with all equipment and staff for the shoot, including state-of-the-art cameras and lenses from Nikon, lighting equipment from MAC Group, with models, stylists, make-up artists and locations provided by PhotoShelter. Pretty cool right?

(drum roll, please)

Youth Culture
Team Lead: Kareem Black

Grant Harder - Vancouver, BC
http://grantharder.com

Ryan Allan - Southern California
http://ryanallan.com

Lesley Allen - Southern California
http://lesleyallenphoto.com

Jana Cruder - Santa Monica, Ca
http://janacruderphoto.com


Studio Still Life & Objects:
Team Lead: David Hobby

Matt Armendariz - Santa Monica, California
http://www.mattphotographs.com

Erin Wigger - New York, NY
http://www.erinwigger.com

Fiona Aboud - New York, NY
http://www.fionaaboud.com

Michael Lopez - Bakersfield, Ca
http://psc.photoshelter.com/user/m329

We first met photographer Kareem Black when he joined our panel discussion on our PhotoShelter City Tour in the Fall of 2007. He was funny, outspoken, and a fantastic marketer who once plastered posters around New York that read "Kareem Black to Marry Lindsay Lohan" as a way to drive traffic to his website. He's heading our Youth Culture shoot on Shoot! The Day.


Photo by Kareem Black

Given all the controversy around Lindsay Lohan, are you glad you didn't end up marrying her?

NO, Lindsay is a beautiful and tragically misunderstood soul. I believe she is a genius and when the time is right out paths will cross. I'm not sure if marriage is still our fate, but that doesn't have anything to do with her... I'm not in a marrying mood at this new point in my life. Lindsay definitely seems like a party girl and I'm totally into that as someone that parties pretty hard. She is a princess to me!


Photo by Kareem Black

Your Sugar-Free Kool-Aid campaign has a retro old school awesome feel. Was the campaign a blast to work on? What was the process to style and cast the shoot?


Photo by Kareem Black

The Kool-Aid Campaign is probably the series that I'm most proud of in this point in my career. It was a tremendous leap of faith on the clients part and i got to work with amazing people on the ad side of things. I made some amazing friends on that shoot and the response to it has been pretty good as well! In order to make the campaign have the feel that you mentioned details like styling, casting and color pallet were of utmost importance.. We took out inspiration for the look of the project from the works of Jamil Shabazz.

It's sugar-free too. That's good for the kids, right?

I hate kids.. but i suppose that if there is no sugar in it the kids dental bills wont be so high.

You shoot a lot of diversity and youth culture. Did you enter these areas intentionally?

Well, I'm 30 so i can relate to youth culture. I have a pretty good idea of whats cool and what not. But i enjoy taking portraits of people of all ages. The interaction is what interests me. And often the most interesting interaction is with people that are outside my age group and from a different background than me.


Photo by Kareem Black

A brief look at the most recent photo books sitting on my bookshelf. What's on your bookshelf?

Architecture of Authority
Richard Ross



I'm fascinated by architectural photography. I don't want to do it, but I have a real appreciation for people that can because it's much harder than it seems to capture the essence of a room or a buildling (let's not even start with perspective correction). Ross's book is even more interesting given the role of "authority" in society whether it's Guantanamo or a Montessori pre-school.







H2O
Howard Schatz

The renown ophthalmologist-turned renown commercial photographer compiles the best of his underwater images. I first saw Howard's work when he spoke at the Eddie Adams Workshop. It was one of those experiences where your conception of photography is blown out of the, er, water.

Howard now serves on the Board of Directors, and still speaks every year. And unlike a lot of photographers who live on their past work, Howard only shows work from the past calendar year at the Workshop. Two years ago he revealed that his team figured out how to "throw" water into a consistent shape and have it act like a mirror. I'd tell you the secret, except then I'd have to admit that I don't actually know it.









On the Beach
Richard Mizrach



Rachel and I have independent man-love for Richard Misrach, and especially for his new work in On the Beach. It's partially because the images are shot in my hometown of Hawai'i, but I actually fell in love with his Salton Sea work when I saw it hanging at Houston's on Park Avenue. Speaking of which, the owner of Houston's is allegedly a huge contemporary photography collector, and you can see all kinds of great stuff while you're chowing down on their artichoke dip.

This book is impossible to find. It started its touring exhibition at the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu, and by the time it reached stop #2 in Chicago, the book was sold out. But given the fact that it measures 20"x16", it's sort of like 80 pages of art prints.





Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot
Ashley Gilbertson and Dexter Filkins



First off, Ashley is a guy from Australia. Second, we deal with a weird phenomenon in our information world. Namely, we're surrounded by excellent war photography from people like Ashley, and thus we lose an appreciation for how difficult and how dangerous it is to create these pictures. I've played paintball and my body was shaking like polaroid picture from fear, so I can't imaginne what it's like to be in a real war zone and have to compose photos with skill and precision.







The Big Penis Book
Dian Hanson, Editor



The girls behind me at the office were giggling, and I turned around and saw The Big Penis Book on their screen. Ah yes, the joys of working in the photo business. But really, it's sort of like a car crash, you can't help but look at the obscenity (don't shake your head like that, i know you agree) -- and it's exactly what one would expect of Taschen. And let's just say, you'd feel pretty stupid if you made some snide remark to the cover model about "Is that a banana in your pocket," only to find out that it wasn't.

I'm going to spare you the teaser shots. Go get the book if you're really curious.

Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 AFS G


Photo by Dave Black. Courtesy of Nikon.

14mm on a full-frame camera is wide. Really wide. But you might be surprised at how good the optics are on this zoom lens - some even claim it's sharper than primes that fall into this range. But "te cuidado," my friend, because this bad boy doesn't allow a front filter. So if you're prone to banging your gear into a wall, you might want some equipment insurance.

$1569.95

Canon 24mm f/1.4


Ruby. Photo by Jason Burfield.

If you're used to wide-angle zooms that max out at f/2.8, you'll be thrilled to have more than a stop of extra light and a super shallow depth-of-field. Getting this level of isolation out of a wide angle almost gives the pictures a view camera-esque perspective. This is a lens that makes you wish you shot Canon.

$1170

Leica 35mm f/2 Summicron-M



Some people think 50mm is the ideal focal length. I respectfully disagree. When it comes to shooting "wide", this lens is pretty close to photographic nirvana. Whether you're shooting a war or a wedding, this lens has the field of view and lack of distortion to put all the "mmm's" in Summicron.

$2595

Zuiko 50mm f/1.4
Here's the nostalgic pick. My first camera was my dad's Olympus OM-10 with this lens. Then when I was in 7th grade, my parents picked up an OM-4 for me on a trip to Hong Kong and I shot the crap out of this lens. Considering the price, size and quality of this lens, this has to be one of the best "normal" lenses ever made. Maybe it's no $6,000 Noctilux, but for $25 on eBay, you can't go wrong.

Editorial Photographers (EP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and profitability of editorial photography. Our mission is to educate photographers and photography buyers about business issues affecting our industry, and in the process raise the level of business practices in the profession.

I'm a dues-paying member of EP, one of a handful of photo organizations that I consider to be doing really relevant work. Among other things, EP has helped increased day rates among a number of prominent publications and has a really terrific primer on copyright registration.

So when Patrick Harbron, their Outreach Director, contacted us about providing some Personal Archive memberships for their student winners, we were more than happy to oblige. And it's my pleasure to throw a little spotlight on these deserving photographers. Y'all hire them now!

Gianni Cipriano
http://www.giannicipriano.com

A 2008 International Center of Photography graduate, Gianni is currently interning under the tutelage of VII photographer Ron Haviv. Two of his photo essays, In the Land of Black Coats and The Exterminators, have been published in the New York Times.


Photo by Gianni Cipriano


Photo by Gianni Cipriano

Chad Lancaster
http://www.chadlancaster.com

Chad is old school, shooting scenic panoramas with a 4x10 view camera to produce enormous, high quality prints. What's more, 10% of his profits are donated to the preservation of the environment.


Photo by Chad Lancaster


Photo by Chad Lancaster

Matt Eich
http://www.matteichphoto.com/

Matt was the 2006 College photographer of the year and won the Nikon Achievement Scholarship at the Eddie Adams Workshop the same year. He gets double-dips this week on the blog.


Photo by Matt Eich


Photo by Matt Eich

Colin Foster
Colin was born and raised in the North West of England, he started his working career in Banking but stumbled into the software Industry during the dot.com boom. Tired of 17 hour days, living and working in central London, Colin and his wife, Lisa decided to take some time out for themselves. It was the grandeur and vastness of the American West that finally put a camera in Colin's hands, desperately seeking to document the awe of it all. After two years of  searching for a new direction Colin knew that photography was what he wanted to pursue.





Phil Jackson

The New York Times had a small piece on an exhibit that ran at the old Arsenal on Fifth Avenue and 64th Street entitled "Celebrating Greensward: The Plan for Central Park, 1858-2008."

But most amusing to me was a photo of an area known as Sheep Meadow in Central Park, which is filled every summer weekend by young people tanning, playing frisbee and having picnics. Apparently, this was not always the case in the 1930s....

Melissa Lyttle is a 2001 alumnae of the Eddie Adams Workshop. She is a huge advocate of photographer's rights and one of the most ethically-minded and generous photographers I know. She currently works as a staffer for the St. Petersburg Times and runs a photoblog called APhotoADay.

The first time I became aware of you was at the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar when you walked into the portfolio reviews and everyone was like "It's the amazing Melissa Lyttle!!!" You're kind of a celebrity down South, aren't ya?

I thought those voices were only in my head.


Photo by Melissa Lyttle

I felt very disoriented when I attended the Eddie Adams Workshop because I was inundated with so much information and talent, and that was on a farm. You, on the other hand, participated in the Workshop held right after 9/11. What was that experience like?

It was nearly a month after 9/11, and I vividly remember sitting in the barn that October, when someone at the podium announced that President Bush had just declared war on Afghanistan. It was surreal, intense and chilling.  Especially being cut off from the world for four days while you're in that wonderful bubble that is the Eddie Adams Workshop.  With no TVs, no Internet, and no newspaper reading for four days -- you really feel cut off from the world.  As a journalist that was a little disconcerting, but also incredibly comforting.  And unfortunately for us, the beginning of the War of Terror meant many of the photo editors and big name photographers had to leave because work called.

You're a staff photographer at a newspaper. You've got a steady paycheck and health benefits. What motivates you do create something like APhotoADay.org in your spare time?

I started APhotoADay in 2000.  I was about year out of school, 6 months into my first job and learning to adjust to a newspaper.  I came in young, hungry and full of ideas -- stories I wanted to do, parts of the community I wanted to explore visually -- and one of my photo editors actually told me not to work too hard because he didn't want me to make the rest of the staff look bad.  Sadly, he was serious.  Any ideas I had, features I shot, or stories I worked on in my own time were immediately shot down.  I was really frustrated and felt like my growth was being limited.  I didn't want to stop shooting for myself or limit my vision in anyway.  I needed an outlet for that kind of work.  And when a friend emailed me, expressing a similar sentiment, we started sending a photo a day back and forth via email. 

By the end of the week we had 5 friends from college involved, who were now spread out all over the country.  By the end of the second week, word had spread from our small crew from UF to some friends at the University of Missouri... and we had about 10 people on our email list. Eventually it got too tedious to type in every email address by hand so I set up a listserv.  Now, 8 years later, and solely by word-of-mouth, we have over 950 members worldwide.  And most people who join, have expressed feeling similar to those I had in the beginning, of needing a place to share work that they shot for themselves,  or work that wasn't appreciated by their publications.  Over the years, APAD seems to have found its purpose and its been shaped by those who needed it the most.


Photo by Melissa Lyttle/St. Petersburg Times

Let's talk ethics. You're a very outspoken proponent of stricter ethics in photojournalism. What's the big deal?

The big deal is trust.  Our integrity as photojournalist is upheld by the truth our images convey.  As a photojournalist, the last thing I want is to destroy my credibility and my newspapers reputation by being untruthful in any way.  And every time there is a Brian Walski, Allan Detrich or Patrick Schneider-like incident, our trust as journalists is knocked down a notch.  Unfortunately, the word "photoshop" has become a verb that the public now uses.  That's frustrating to me, because I can't tell you how many assignments I've been on where subjects have said, "oh you can just photoshop that in/out." So I take that as my cue, and a chance to educate the general public about what we do.  It's important to me that they know the images they see with my name under them, or for that matter any images seen in the St. Petersburg Times, convey the absolute truth.

Photo by Melissa Lyttle/South Florida Sun Sentinel

You're 20 years old. You've just won the College Photographer of the Year award, and then your girlfriend becomes pregnant. Is this the beginning or the end? Matt Eich picked up his camera and precociously declared, "Nothing good comes without some sort of struggle."

Not only is Matt an Eddie Adams Workshop alumnus, but he won the top prize in 2006 -- a $10,000 grant from Nikon, the primary sponsor of the workshop to follow his own vision and shoot what he wanted. If Matt is representative of the new guard of photojournalists, we're in good shape.


Photo by Matt Eich

Ok Matt. Let's cut to the chase. I'm 36 and don't have a girlfriend. You're 21 and your relationship with your wife is captured beautifully  for the world to see in "Love in the First Person." How did you conceive of this project and at what point did you hook up with Brian Storm to produce it?

"Love In The First Person" came out of a compulsion to document my life (and pretty much everything else around me), but it didn't start off with any purpose. Chad Stevens, who now works at MediaStorm was a grad student at Ohio University last year and one of the first people I showed the images to after Melissa and I found out we were expecting. At the time he was helping to put together a team of folks for the first Soul of Athens, an annual student multimedia collaborative project at OU. A couple weeks later he called me up and said, "Hey, I've got an idea..." Brian Storm was overseeing the production of the first Soul of Athens so he was familiar with the story from the get-go. He expressed some interest in it early on, but it wasn't until the middle of the summer while Melissa and I were living in Portland, OR that the ball really got rolling. So, I really can't take credit for the concept at all. If it weren't for Chad and Brian, I would've kept shooting the whole thing but the images probably would have been filed away somewhere on a hard drive gathering dust.

PS: You photographed some of your own wedding, didn't ya! What's the wife think of all of that?

The wedding was pretty well-covered by friends, though I snuck a few frames in before the pastor officiating the ceremony put his foot down. I think Melissa sort of expected it. We set up a laptop and hard drive at the reception and people dumped their cards over the course of the evening. There was more than 10,000 frames when all was said and done. Looking back it was a bit excessive, but we wouldn't change a thing about the wedding. Except for the DJ...he was terrible.  


Photo by Matt Eich

We hear about the decline of the photo industry practically every day. What's it like to be a newly minted professional, and worrying about making a living from photography?

I'm no different than any other student about to be thrust out into this changing world, feeling extremely green and largely unprepared for a life of freelance. For the longest time newspapers have been looked at as a safe-haven for those who want job security. So many of my friends have been laid off from their newspaper jobs in recent months, it is really discouraging. I'm very grateful to be surrounded by a group of folks who have managed to make ends meet as photographers and are willing to share their knowledge of how to make it all work. Hopefully if we all pool our knowledge and are willing to help one another out we can all make it through these rough patches in the industry. 

You've had a heck of a lot of success with contests. Do you find them validating?

Contests can be a double-edged sword and more often than not are a pain in the ass, but they have helped me get my foot in the door with a few places. As someone who wanted to do editorial work but wasn't getting much, applying for a lot of scholarships, grants and competitions was a way to put my work out there and potentially put some money in the bank. Applying for grants has been a great learning experience for me because it makes me really research the topics I am pitching and get to know the subject better. Last year I was able to use contest money to equip myself so that I had most of the gear necessary to freelance. These are the positives. The flip side is that if your only validation comes from contests and you get severely bent out of shape when you don't win or you feel that you are shooting for contests, that can be problematic. Entering is always a crap shoot, but if you don't put your work out there, no one is going to see it.


Photo by Matt Eich

Longtime Eddie Adams friend, Bill Eppridge, is an icon of American photojournalism -- most noted for his photo of Bobby Kennedy's assassination. His recently published book, "A Time It Was: Bobby Kennedy in the Sixties"  is a poignant essay of Kennedy's run for the White House, but also a reminder of how much political coverage has changed.

Eppridge recently compared photographing Bobby Kennedy in the 60s with trying to take photos of Barack Obama this year in a SportsShooter.com article.