Conducting a reverse image search using Google Images takes your image as the query (i.e. search term), and locates images with visually similar elements (colors, textures, patterns, etc.) as well as similar text descriptions (metadata and captions).

There are two  main ways to start your image search on Google:

1. Upload your photo to Google Image search. Note you can also drag-and-drop your photo from your desktop to upload.

2. Copy your photo’s URL from its original location on the web (i.e. your website or blog) and paste it into Google Image search.

In this example, we’re using an image by PhotoShelter member and concert photographer Todd Owyoung that he gave us permission to use in our post 14 Respected Photographers’ Plans to Jumpstart Their Photography Business in 2013.

Once you’ve uploaded your photo or pasted your image URL into Google Image search, it will return a page that includes a collage of visually similar images, which might resemble yours but not be exact copies, and a list of webpages that contain matching images. This is where you can determine if anyone is using an unauthorized copy of your image.

Google will also try to determine a text description for your image – you can alter this in the search box if it’s slightly incorrect (in this case, “uestlove kit” instead of “questlove kit” or simply “questlove”). Once you go through these initial search results, you’ll want to try employing some advanced search techniques to help find any images that Google might have overlooked.

Google has a nice advanced image search page that lets you search by image size, file type, colors, region, and more.

Here are some other alternative reverse image search tips:

• If you have other versions of your image, upload those to Google, too – especially if you’ve posted them online at some point.
• You might find a manipulated version of your image out there. It could be cropped, black and white, rotated, or otherwise adjusted. Try creating these variations on your own and then doing a reverse image search to see if someone is using a Photoshopped version of your work.
• Upload different sizes of your image. Smaller sizes means that Google has to work harder to infer things like specific colors and patterns. You might get more results that are irrelevant, but it might also turn up some new results.

So what happens if you find unauthorized copies of your images? Depending on the specific instance, you might have a case for copyright infringement. To learn more about copyright law and protecting your images, see our free resource The Photographer’s Guide to Copyright. Get tips to keep your work safe.

Update: If you’re trying to do a reverse image search on an image that’s displayed on your PhotoShelter website using the URL, be sure to follow these steps:

1.  Navigate to the single image view of the desired photo.

2. Copy image URL by right-clicking on the image and selecting “Copy image URL”

3. Paste this URL into Google Image search.

4. Check out the results

Note that this is the same process you would use to search for any image by its URL, regardless of where it’s hosted (your PhotoShelter site, your blog, etc.).

Note: This video is best viewed in full screen (click the arrows in the bottom right corner of the video) and after an introduction, Kristina starts her demo at the 6:35 mark.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kristina has made this quick action for Photoshop available for download!

Instructions to download the action

Please use these instructions to download and install the action. If you have any questions, please contact Kristina.

Mac users

PC users

1. Press the “Control” key on your keyboard and then click this link.

2. Select “download linked file”.

3. Find the .zip file in your Downloads folder.

4. Double click the file to unzip it, and save the correct version (CS5 or CS6) somewhere you’ll remember.

5. Open Photoshop and click on the little arrow button on the top right corner of the Actions palette and select “Load action”.

6. Look for the .atn file you just saved when the pop up file browser comes up.

7. Once you’ve found the file, select “Load”.

Using the action

In Photoshop CS6, the action should select the Skin Tones automatically. After you run the action, edit each of the new layers as Kristina outlines in the video. The Photoshop CS5 is slightly different. Since the Skin Tones options doesn’t exist in the Select -> Color Range menu, Kristina chose to select “highlights” from the Select -> Color Range menu. This might not work as well for subjects with darker skin – if this is the case, simply use the  Eye Dropper tool to select the color range that works for your subject.

Check out Kristina’s Fashion Retouching DVD for more tips!

In this intensive video training, you’ll discover the techniques that Kristina uses in post production for fashion and advertising photography. The video contains over 5 hours of brand new sharp video.

Use the promo code “sheltercafe” and save 20%!

Get the DVD here: www.photoshopcafe.com/video/products/Fashion_Retouching.htm

So for 2013, we’ve put together a list packed with great ideas on how photographers can help out. There are so many groups and organizations out there using photography for good, so we’ve included the ones that stood out to us most.

1. Giving Back Through Non-Profits

There are a variety of non-profit organizations aimed at raising awareness of global issues through photographic philanthropy, and range from general to very specific. Here are a few to help you get started (though there are many more):

PhotoPhilanthropy: Appropriately named, the mission of this well-known non-profit is to bring photographers together to drive action through social change and offer many volunteer opportunities. They have a variety of programs to help facilitate this, including exhibitions, awards and grants. http://photophilanthropy.org/

Nuru Project: “Nuru” means “light” in Swahili, photography being the medium of light. The Nuru Project sells photojournalism prints to support compelling causes and storytellers. They work with a variety of non-profits, and contribute to a given organization whenever a customer buys a print. The non-profit gets the majority of the funds (50%), while the photographer and the Nuru Project equally share the rest. All printing costs are borne by Nuru Project. This means a full 50% goes to the non-profit and 25% goes to the photographer. http://www.nuruproject.org/

Project Exposure: The goal of Project Exposure is to create an opportunity for photographers of the same community to collaborate with one another and bring global issues to light. Project Exposure covers travel fees and expenses for photographers who are willing to work pro bono for a great cause. http://projectexposure.org/

Help-Portrait: The idea behind Help-Portrait is simple: find someone in need, take their portrait, print their portrait, and deliver it.  The Help-Portrait website is an online community offering ways to connect with other portrait photographers as well as those who are less fortunate. Providing someone with a professional-quality portrait who otherwise could not afford it is an extremely personal way of giving back. http://community.help-portrait.com/

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: This unique organization offers remembrance photography to families who have suffered the loss of a baby. Because of the nature and sensitivity of the work, volunteer photographers are carefully evaluated to make sure they are fit for the task – but if this is your calling, you can easily apply on their website.  https://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/

2. Giving Back Locally

You don’t have to be affiliated with a large, well-known non-profit organization to give back, especially if you want to give back to your own community. Independent efforts of philanthropy allow your services, time or money go directly to those in need – so that you may likely see the results of your efforts firsthand.

Donate Prints: There are plenty of local institutions and businesses that would benefit from having stellar photographs on their walls but may not have the funds to acquire them on their own, such as libraries, schools, and other public institutions in underserved areas. Many of these organizations hold events such as contests, raffles and silent auctions to help raise funds for a worthwhile community endeavor, and are always looking for items to be donated for these causes.

Give Free Introductory Classes: Never underestimate how much an aspiring photographer will appreciate the instruction of someone who is seasoned and experienced in their field. This is an easy and rewarding way to offer your talents, and sharing the wealth with others who are eager to learn from you.

3. DIY: Showcase a topic you’re passionate about

If there is a pertinent issue that you are passionate about – whether it be the environment, social injustice or education – it is likely that you already have an audience who shares your sentiments. Take a series of photos representing the issue and cast it in the light it deserves. Event registration sites like Eventbrite and Guestlist allow you to create and register your event locally, and without cost if your event is free. And finding a space doesn’t have to be as difficult or expensive as you might think – investigate using a library or community center event room, or even ask a local cafe to hang your photos on their walls which their business can benefit from as well. Now all you have to do is raise awareness about your event, which will then raise awareness about the issue you choose to showcase.

4. Donate Proceeds

An obvious way of giving back is simply donating the proceeds of your print sales – whether the photo is relevant to the cause or not. It may be a good idea to team up with an already-planned event intended to raise awareness about an issue so that you know you’ll have a captive market interested in supporting a good cause.  Check out what events are going on in your community and if there’s a way to get on board too.

5. Photographer’s Giving Back Award

The Photographer’s Giving Back Award is an annual award that donates $5,000 directly to the person or people depicted in the award-winning photographs. Last year’s winner, Alex Masi, took extraordinary photos of an 8-year-old girl named Poonam, from Bhopal, India. The photo that won was a shot of the young girl sitting in the rain with her head tilted upwards to the sky, and the money awarded changed her life. She is now in her third year of school and aspiring to be a teacher. Masi’s goal was to show what it is like to grow up in Bhopal, and plans to return many times to tell Poonam’s coming-of-age story through breathtaking photographs.

There are so many great ways to give back through photography. If one of the ideas above strikes your interest, we encourage you to reach out directly and volunteer!

We were curious what plans photographers had in mind to help jumpstart their photography business, so we reached out to some of the folks who contributed to our Photo Business Bootcamp - our most powerful (and free) compilation of smart photography business advice.

Serious about generating more income from your photography business? Check out the inspiration below, and then download our free Photo Business Bootcamp.

We asked, “What specific tactics are you planning to help jumpstart your photography business in 2013?” Here’s what these business-savvy photographers had to say:

Tim Mantoani – Commercial, Advertising

“Launch a new and updated website and blog, e-blasts, direct mail, print advertising. Shoot more personal work for my website. See more people face to face. Reconnect with old clients. Shoot a documentary video project. Learn more, play more, shoot more!”

Kendrick Brinson – Documentary, Commercial, Editorial

“In 2013, I hope to step-up everything I’ve always done in terms of my photography business. I aim to shoot more, even if it’s just for me. I have plans for a new long-term project and hope to start that soon, as well. I aim to promote my personal work, as well as my commercial, corporate and editorial work more through blogging and newsletters. Most importantly, I am planning more interactions with my clients – in person, via email pitches, via mailers.”

Brian Smith – Celebrity Portraits

“Commercial photography is a delicate balance of art and commerce. After spending the last couple years focusing on art, I’ve resolved to concentrate on ways that art can best lead to commerce.”

Photo by Brian Smith

Steve Boyle – Advertising, Editorial Sports

“Efforts to expand my business in 2013 will begin in mid-January. I am coming off of a complete re-brand that launched in late November, created by the guys over at Primer. I unveiled a new logo, blog, website, promo materials and printed portfolio showcasing all new work. I sent an e-promo and direct mail out at the end of 2012, and will continue to send similar materials throughout the year. I am also working with a PR professional to further increase brand awareness.”

Ed Mulholland – Sports

“I’ve spent the last couple years concentrating on growing my web presence and SEO, via my online archive and blog. While that is constantly evolving, I have a strong foundation built there that it doesn’t take nearly as much time as it used to maintaining it.  With that said, I’d like to grow my business with a bit more personal touch and have recently begun looking into the production of some photo books. They have become much more cost effective in the recent year, and I’d like to introduce my work to a new group of potential clients through them.

“I’ve also began reintroducing myself to clients who I had worked with personally in the past. I had moved to an agency with my boxing work and lost that personal connection, now that I’m back on my own, it’s time to get that personal touch back. Email and social media are invaluable, but sometimes it’s nice to pick up the phone or put something real in a clients hands.”

Randy Santos - Fine Art, Stock

“Following this past year, I feel very positive and overly enthusiastic going into 2013.  I’ll continue producing specific imagery for my targeted market in order to gain new clients/projects – but also continue to broaden the scope of imagery I make available and market this work to create new opportunities within my existing client base. Otherwise,  I’ll hopefully stay on track with what seems to work for me – work hard, remain creative and productive, continue to educate myself and improve my skills, maintain enthusiasm, love my work, love my family, and harness the awesome power of severe ADHD.”

Photo by Randy Santos

Robert Seale – Advertising, Sports, Corporate

“I’ll be redoing my website, blogging more regularly (hopefully), trying to get out and show the portfolio more to a tight group of specifically targeted people I want to work with. After several years of doing this, I’m convinced that building long term personal relationships – not endless email blasting and postcard mailing – is the best way to develop long term clients.”

Ami Vitale - Photojournalism, Documentary

“Hire more help! At a certain point you realize in order to grow or even maintain your business, it’s a better use of time and resources to focus on the things you are good at and hire help with other tasks like running the office. This will give me more time to use my creativity and brain on bigger ideas and projects. I’m also interested in more collaboration. Rather than always being a lone wolf, there is much more strength in unity and collaboration.”

Craig Holmes – Commercial

“Well, 2013 is the year I start to focus on an area of photography I have ‘under-marketed’ for some years, namely food photography. Presently there are two main areas to the business – commissioned commercial photography (using the PhotoShelter site www.craigholmes.com), and our stock photography site (a second Photoshelter site at www.imagesofbirmingham.co.uk).  The focus this year is to have in place a new website – the third Photoshelter site at www.thepicturepantry.com – in order to market my food photography to both commissioning clients and also to stock clients.  I have always undertaken food commissions, and have photographed around seven recipe books (and won a couple of awards for them). Not only is the web site now in place, but it will be marketed via mail, and then via email moving forward.”

www.thepicturepantry.com

John Harrington – Editorial, Corporate

“So often when business is motoring along, you lose focus on the other facets of your business that are leveragable. I use my Photoshelter account for practically every client I work with; however, I need to re-establish and then expand on the re-licensing of my images after the initial assignment is complete. I also intend to grow my offerings to corporate clients looking for a cohesive series of office decor options. Both of these projects should increase revenue and increase productivity during idle periods.”

Darren Carroll – Lifestyle, Portrait, Action

“I’m planning on doing 4 specific things to improve business this year, all with an eye toward my overarching goal of getting my work in front of people through personal meetings. Don’t get me wrong – I love getting new clients just based on them finding me online, but  I’m a big believer in getting to know people I’d like to work with in person.

“The first part of my approach begins with a continuation of my monthly e-mail promos, which were very successful last year in procuring assignments. But this year I’ve developed a list of 20 or so people or places – magazines, companies, and art buyers – that I’d really like to get my work in front of. The second involves targeted bi-monthly promotional mailings (postcards) to the relevant staff members at all of the agencies, companies, and magazines in question. Third, I’m planning an even more targeted campaign, probably semi-annual, of Blurb books coupled with notes which builds on the previous two efforts, and finally (and perhaps most importantly), I’m making a resolution that instead of simply sending an e-mail asking or a meeting or portfolio review, that I’m going to pick up the phone and call. I think e-mails are too easy to either ignore or simply forget about. If I want to do a better job at building personal relationships with new or potential clients, I ought to make sure I’m taking as much of a personal approach as possible.”

Darren Carroll’s email marketing from 2012

Carli Davidson - Pets

“I am looking to get ORGANIZED! Like many photographers and business owners I have my hands in a lot of pots, so making a clear map of my priorities to monetize my photography has become a priority. I’m also rethinking traveling commissions as a small boutique offering to supplement my commercial work. It gives me an excuse to spend a block of time in New York and LA working on location, set up other beneficial meetings and shoot in new places while I’m at it.”

Martin Vargas – Industrial, Corporate

“In 2013, we will consolidate our marketing strategies. while continuing to work with Agency Access creating specific campaigns focused on key prospects in certain industries. For the Mexico and Central America markets, we will identify and target key industry players and do more research on them so we can better target their visual communication necessities. Our goal is to have one key company from specific industries as clients.”

Todd Owyoung - Music, Lifestyle, Portrait

“At the start of 2013, one thing that I’m doing right now is writing personal message to my favorite clients, photo editors, and contacts. It seems like a small thing, but so much of repeat business and referrals comes from these small touches of personal connection.”

Photo by Todd Owyoung

Jumpstart Your Photography Business!

Looking for a way to jumpstart your photography business in 2013, but not sure where to start? Think $15,000 in prizes could help? Then PhotoShelter’s Jumpstart Contest is right up your alley!

One grand prize winner will win exclusive one-on-one time with each member of our Dream Team Advisory Board, including Zack Arias, Brian Smith, David Hobby, Lindsay Adler, and more. The grand prize winner will also receive $5,000 in gear from Calumet Photographic!

The Jumpstart Contest is open to all PhotoShelter members who complete a short questionnaire about how you plan to build your business in 2013.

Not a PhotoShelter member? Not a problem. Get your FREE 30-day PhotoShelter trial and enter to win before February 28, 2013. Use code JUMPSTART.

Yes, photography contests, on the whole, are generally worthless – they are a time and money suck, and the organizers are looking to make money or disguise them as a rights grab.

No, they provide value, in that it forces photographers to curate their best work and ultimately push themselves to compete with “the best”. Plus, reading that so-and-so won this-and-that photo contest is kind of like being named Best Smile in the yearbook – many of us tend to pay attention to those awards, even if we’re not sure why.

But before the opining begins, keep in mind that every contest is geared toward a different level of photographer (student vs. amateur vs. pro), genre of photography (documentary, commercial, fine art, etc.), and different buyers are checking out different contests (magazine editors vs. ad agencies, for example).

Below we rate several major photo contests, with a brief overview of each contests’ entry fees, prizes, promised exposure, and feedback from past winners. Our verdict is given on an A-F scale, with “A” being worthwhile and “F” being worthless. Let the grading begin:

Photography Masters Cup

Entry fees: $35 for professionals; $30 for amateur (determined by whether your income is made as a photographer).

Prizes: “Masters Cup Award” title.

Promised exposure: Published in The PHOTO Paper Magazine; showcased in the online Winners Gallery; “international press and exposure.”

What the winners say: Daisy Gilardini, winner in the Nature category for the 5th annual awards, says: “Entering a photo contest is a time consuming task. I enter only a few of the most prestigious photo contest worldwide a year. The benefits are not immediate: I don’t enter a contest for the prizes – I consider this engagement as part of my marketing business plan. It’s a great way to have your name out there and build up a reputation.”

Photo by Daisy Gilardini

When asked if he would recommend other photographers to enter, Sucheta Das (winner in the Sports category) says: “Yes, definitely. I would ask all professional and young photographers to come forward and enter and show your talent to the world.”

Photo by Sucheta Das

Verdict: D You pay $30-some dollars, and get back zero. Beyond getting to put “Masters Cup Award” in your bio and having your work seen by maybe a few prominent judges, it doesn’t appear that the exposure foots the bill. Not many are talking about this contest (at least online), most buyers haven’t heard of it, and while the copyright remains with the photographer, the organization and “third-party newspapers and magazines” can use your image for “promotional purposes.”

International Photography Awards (IPA)

Entry fees: $35 for professionals’ singe image; $25 for non-professionals; $15 for students.

Prizes: Cash prize of $10,000 for the International Photographer of the Year Award; $5,000 for Discovery of the Year Award; $5,000 for Deeper Perspective Photographer of the Year Award; $2,500 for New! Moving Image Photographer of the Year Award.

Promised exposure: Winners attend the Lucie Awards in NYC – of those, 45 images are selected for a exhibition leading up to the awards show; published in Annual International Photography Awards Book; press release and newsletter sent to 50,000+ IPA members.

What the winners say: Finalists across IPA’s eight main categories in 2011 had mixed reviews. Marsel van Oosten, Nature Pro winner, says: “I consider it to be the Oscars of photography”. Conversely, Editorial Pro winner Jacopo Quaranta says that he didn’t see any direct benefit in the form of new assignments as a result of winning, but “the exposure given by the contest is huge, which is really good because your pictures are seen by a larger number of people and more people may discover you.”

Photo by Marsel van Oosten

Quaranta also adds that the benefits of entering depend on your genre of photography. “I think IPA is more oriented toward fine art photography,” he says. “If you see the names of people who won every year, there are not many photojournalists.”

Photo by Jacopo Quaranta

That being said, Fine Art Pro winner Chad Holder warns: “We need to be careful not to enter the lame contests that are solely out to make money. Stick to respectable ones, the ones your clients will notice and care about.”

Photo by Chad Holder

Verdict: B. $10,000 is pretty sweet bait for entering the IPA, and winners’ images have been previously published on websites like BuzzFeed and EYEMAZING. Plus, the exhibition and press release provide a chance to get a good number of eyeballs on your work. But as one past winner notes, be sure that your genre of photography fits the competition.

Smithsonian Photo Contest

Entry fees: n/a

Prizes: Grand prize of $5,000; 5 category winners receive $500; Readers’ Choice winner receives $500.

Promised exposure: Published on Smithsonian website.

What the winners say: Radim Schreiber, who won first prize in the Nature category in the 8th annual contest, says that he considers the win was a milestone in his photography career. “It motivates me to pursue photography further,” he says.

Paul Durhman, a finalist in this year’s Travel category, says: “I have received the benefit of more exposure for my work as well as a definite boost in confidence! Not only are you viewing others’ work – you’re putting your work up against it, which in turn helps you improve.”

Photo by Paula Durhman

Verdict: D. There’s not a lot stopping you from entering Smithsonian’s photo contest with a $0 entry fee, and the grand prize is a nice chunk of cash, but beware of the usage rights you’re handing over: “By entering the contest, entrants grant the Smithsonian Institution a royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive license to display, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works of the entries…The Smithsonian Institution will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such uses.” Also, most entries are pretty amateur.

National Geographic Photo Contest

Entry fees: $15 per entry.

Prizes: Grand Prize winner receives $7,500 cash prize and a 3-day trip to Washington D.C. for the National Geographic Photography Seminar; category winners receive $2,500.

Promised exposure: Printed in the magazine.

What the winners say: Izabelle Nordfjell won the People category in 2011 and says, “I got a lot of attention in the Swedish media and even some internationally. It resulted in a boost for my brand as a young, up-and-coming photojournalist.”

2011 Grand Prize winner Shikhei Goh simply says: “I surely recommend others to enter the contest.”

Photo by Shikhei Goh

Verdict: B. It’s many nature photographers’ dream to be published in National Geographic, and the online gallery gets roughly 600,000 pageviews per month. Not to mention that publications like The Boston Globe, The Huffington Post, ABC News and more publish the winners (all online). Know why? “By entering the Contest, all entrants grant an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide non-exclusive license to Authorized Parties, to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entries.” If this sort of “free” exposure doesn’t bother you, then the contest might be for you.

PDN Photo Annual 

Entry fees: $45 for a single entry; $55 per series; special student rate of $25 per entry.

Prizes: There are six different awards given at the PDN Photo Annual:

• The Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture
• Adobe’s Breakthrough Photography Award of $1,000 cash prize and Adobe® Creative Suite® 5.5 Master Collection
• The Marty Forscher Fellowship Fund cash award to one professional and one student winner
• The Sony Emerging Photographer Award who receives a Sony camera and a $1,000 cash prize
• Ten winners receive a Nielsen Photo Group membership
• PDN Editor’s Choice Award receivse a full-page self promotion ad in an upcoming issue of PDN

Promised exposure: Winning images published in PDN’s Photo Annual issue (sent to 5,000+ creatives) and pdnonline.com‘s gallery archive; “work seen by top photo industry judges.”

What the winners say: Jason Larkin won The Arnold Newman Prize and received a four-month solo exhibition as a result. “Winning the award was a great boost on keeping me focused on my own projects in between shooting my assignment work,” he says. “PDN is a very respectable organization and the annual is a very competitive arena to get your work show in. Though the submission is a lot of money and I think it’s a personal decision on entering or not.”

Photo by Jason Larkin

Verdict: B+. PDN Photo Annual is very well respected in the photography community, and many photo buyers have told us that this is one of the photo contests that they actually pay attention to. The judges who you will likely see your work (editors in the past have been from Newsweek, Sports Illustrator, The New York Times, for example) might be worth the hefty $45-55 entry fee – though the prizes could be a bit more generous for the submission cost.

World Press Photo

Entry fees: n/a

Prizes: Photo of the Year Award receives €10,000 and a sponsored trip to the Awards Ceremony in Amsterdam; 2nd and 3rd prize winners, and honorable mentions, receive an award and diploma.

Promised exposure: All prize-winning photos are assembled into an exhibition that travels to 45 countries and published in a yearbook distributed worldwide.

What the winners say: World Press Photo of the Year 2011 winner Samuel Aranda says: “Receiving the award really helped me to find new clients and ways to do my next projects. Also that the issues in Yemen got exposure as a result of the award.”

Donald Weber, who won first prize in the Portraits category, says: “I am a believer in the awards system, but I also think it can get overdone…there are an awful lot of paid awards these days, which I don’t necessarily denigrate, but I think you have to be wise and careful and prudent about what you enter and why. Is this an important milestone in your career, is this an important step for the life of the work?”

“What a WPP does is offer recognition from your peers,” Donald adds. “I think we as photographers are an insecure species as a whole, an award lightens our egos and tells us we’re on our way somewhere.”

Photo by Donald Weber

Verdict: A. We just can’t deny the credibility of World Press Photo – they boast over two million visitors to the hundreds of venues where winners’ images travel in their winning year, and you just might get published on the front page of The New York Times (like 2011 winner Samuel Aranda). Like other contests, WPP is geared toward a specific type of photographer – so don’t expect to enter your hummingbird photo and win the grand prize.

Pictures of the Year International (POYi)

Entry fees: $50 per entry.

Prizes: Photographer of the Year receives $1,000 cash prize, Nikon camera bodies, and a Tiffany crystal trophy; 2nd place receives $500; 3rd place receives $250.

Promised exposure: Display in Washington D.C.’s Newseum for six months.

What the winners say: None of the winners we contacted replied with comments.

Verdict: B-. POYi is well respected in the photojournalism community, and winners are usually recognized on TIME’s Lightbox blog, The New York Times‘ Lens blog, and others. Unless you’re looking for a broader audience for your documentary project, this probably isn’t the contest for you.

Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition

Entry fees: n/a

Prizes: Monetary prizes can be used toward the purchase of Nikon Equipment:

• 1st Prize $3,000
• 2nd Prize $2,000
• 3rd Prize$1,000
• 4th Prize $800
• 5th Prize $600
• 6th Prize $400
• 7th–10th Prizes $250
• 11th–20th Prizes $100

Promised exposure: Small World Museum Tour throughout North American for 20 selected prize winners; calendar published with selected winners; published in online gallery.

What the winners say: 2011 2nd prize winner Dr. Donna Stolz says that she received a lot of unsolicited emails requesting to use the image for various applications. “It was great to hear how others enjoyed the images,” she says.

Photo by Donna Stolz

Verdict: A. This grade may come as a surprise, but Nikon’s competition serves its purpose beautifully – gives photographers in an extremely niche subject the chance to showcase their images and receive recognition for their work. And the hefty cash prizes don’t hurt, either.

Communication Arts Photography Competition

Entry fees: $35 for single entry; $70 for series.

Prizes: n/a

Promised exposure: Included in Communication Arts Photography Annual and on commarts.com.

What the winners say: Michael Schnabel won the Advertising category and says that he views photo contests as part of his marketing strategy. “My work gets promoted through the contest, and potentially I reach an interesting audience I wouldn’t otherwise,” he says. “And if people already know me, then they are reassured of the quality of my work.”

Photo by Michael Schnabel

Winner of the Unpublished category, Garry Hanan, says: “There is always good exposure in being able to talk about winning the award, but the target market for [Communication Arts] magazine makes a huge difference when it comes to potential exposure.”

“For me personally,” adds Gerry, “the benefits included being able to win new business with an ad agency I hadn’t worked with before, and a shift in the mind of some of my existing and potential clients. There are few things more validating than winning a competition like this, and there is always value in validation. Maybe that win keeps you going when business is tough and you feel like packing it in.”

Verdict: B. Communication Arts is widely circulated among art directors, creative directors, designers, and other buyers in the commercial/advertising industry, so if your work fits this genre then it may be a worthwhile investment. There’s the chance that one of these buys will hire you for a job, but otherwise the payoff for winning is minimal.

Now tell us

What other competitions would you like to see covered (make sure to check out Part 2 of this post!) Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Photo by Grant Kaye/180-degree panorama of Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park, CA.

Photographers who specialize in night photography and stair trails are somewhat of a special breed. This isn’t so surprising when you realize how much in-depth understanding and science know-how they must possess in order to get the job done – not to mention the specialty gear required to get a quality shot at night.

But don’t let the fancy equipment or the prospect of staying up all night discourage you from pursuing night photography. After speaking with Lake Tahoe-based time-lapse and night photographer Grant Kaye, who was featured in our Selling Nature Photography guide, we compiled the top 6 night photography tips to help you master the craft.

Background

Grant started to seriously pursue night photography when he was working fulltime as a volcano specialist – meaning the only time he had to photograph was after work when the sun had already gone down. “I gravitated to night photography after realizing that I could still make images on days that I had to work until 6pm,” says Grant. “Once I got hooked, I had to learn everything I could about shooting at night.”

Four years ago, Grant gave up his work with volcanoes and started to pursue photography fulltime. But how did he make the move from enthusiast to professional? That’s where Grant’s night photography tips for both style and technique come in handy.

1. Combine elements to create an artistic interpretation.

Grant rarely photographs just the night sky alone – he almost always seeks out unique elements in the landscape to combine with his night shots. The result is images that are based on reality, but contain his artistic interpretation of a scene. “I prefer to shoot in places that have both dark skies and interesting things in the landscape to combine with stars and other extraterrestrial objects,” explains Grant.

The elements that Grant chooses to include in his composition come in all shapes and sizes. It’s often the rugged or funky-looking trees native to the American Southwestern deserts, or a group of jagged rocks alongside a placid lake. The elements don’t take away from the starry skies, but actually add a focal point that draws the viewer into the entire image.

Photo by Grant Kaye/White Mountains, CA.

Grant encourages aspiring night photographers to play around with their surroundings, and not to give up when they don’t see their ideal composition right away. “No one can create great night images without experimenting and learning by trial and error!” says Grant.

2. Gain a solid understanding of lunar & planetary motions.

We can’t harp on this one enough – good, let alone great night photographers have a solid understanding of what the moon and stars are up to at any given time during the year. “Thorough knowledge of moon phase and rise/set times prior to going out shooting is crucial to achieving whatever kind of night shot you want to create,” Grant advises.

“Some images require a rising or setting moon, some a new moon, and some a full moon,” says Grant. “For example, shooting the bright center of our Milky Way galaxy requires dark skies and little-to-no moonlight to really bring out the colors in the ‘dust lanes’ of the galactic center. What’s more, there are only certain times of the year that the middle of the galaxy presents itself high enough above the horizon to shoot it in the dark part of the night.”

To get those stellar star trail shots, night photographers know that it’s all about the rotation of the earth. “A camera fixed on a tripod is actually moving along with everything else on the planet,” explains Grant. “So, if you start a long bulb exposure at night in the northern hemisphere facing in a northerly direction, the stars in the sky will appear as trails in concentric rings around the north star as result of the earth rotating on its north-south axis.”

Photo by Grant Kaye/Middle Velma Lake, Desolation Wilderness, Lake Tahoe, CA - star trails stack with a set of images for stars and one exposure for foreground,at full moon.

Because stars appear the brightest when there is a new moon or the moon has yet to rise, photographers must make a tradeoff: no moonlight might mean better star trails, but you won’t get much illumination on the landscape. Grant suggests photographers pre-visualize how they want the image to come out, and marry that with their understanding of the lunar and planetary motions.

Grant says you have to ask yourself, “Are you shooting stars, or a moonlit landscape? Do you want star points, or trails? Is the moon up? If so what phase is it, and when does it rise and set? How much light pollution is around in the direction you are facing? Each one of those things requires a different strategy.” Proper planning means a better chance of getting the image that you want.

3. Invest in gear with low light capabilities.

Photographers frequently ask Grant if they need to spend boatloads of money on gear to produce images like his. “The answer is mostly no,” says Grant. “All you really need to take photographs at night is a camera with manual mode, film or a memory card, and a tripod.”

Personally, Grant is a Canon shooter and currently uses his trusty 5D Mark II, though he recently purchased a Mark III and has been “blown away by the low-light capability.”

“In the last five years, shooting at night with digital cameras has improved one thousand-fold if not more,” says Grant. “Full-frame, low-noise sensors in cameras with fast RAW processing hardware and speedy storage cards have brought us into a new era of night photography.”

In addition to the Mark II/III, Grant also suggests the Nikon D3s and D800. When it comes to lenses, his go-to is the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 lens. This gives him the possibility to shoot quality images in low light.

“The use of a wider-aperture prime lens will allow you to let in more light and bring down noise levels,” says Grant. “The Canon 24mm f/1.4 is excellent, but if this is out of your price range, consider getting the ‘nifty 50’ Canon 50mm f/1.8 for around $100. You’ll be shocked at what a difference there is in your night photography between f/2.8 and f/1.8.”

Photo by Grant Kaye/Mono Lake, CA - star trails and long exposure at new moon.

Beyond the body and lens, there are several pieces of equipment that Grant says can help improve the quality of the images you create:

• Cable release
• Intervalometer for creating time-lapse
• Motion control system (for adding an element of foreground motion to time-lapses)
• Sturdy tripod for wind resistance
• Headlamp with a red LED
• Flashlight for light painting
• Photoshop or Lightroom for noise removal, frame stacking, dodging and burning, etc.

While the above gear isn’t technically necessary, serious professionals should look into investing in a few of these to further improve their night photography.

4. Fall in love with high ISO.

“There really is no catch-all recipe for camera settings and night photography,” admits Grant. “You really have to go back to pre-visualizing what kind of image you want to create, based on what landscape and astronomical features you hope to bring together.”

Still, the general rule for night photography is to use the lowest ISO possible and the widest aperture available. “Digital SLR sensors will start to suffer from high noise at higher ISO values,” says Grant, “and also when performing long exposure at lower values.”

“To throw any potential night shooters a bone… for the most part, you will be shooting at or above ISO 800, below f/6.7, and exposing for at least 10 seconds. Start there, make a guess, check your histogram and LCD screen (don’t bother with the light meter), and give it a try!”

Photo by Grant Kaye/Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, CA - short exposure, wide aperture, high ISO, just before moonrise.

Since star trail images are made with either long exposures or stacking multiple short exposures, noise can be a big issue. And that’s where your post-production skills come in.

5. Master post-production.

The truth is that no matter how high the ISO or how wide your fancy lens can go, it’s pretty difficult to get a totally clean night shot. So Grant suggests creating a “dark frame” and subtracting the noise from your photo.

“Let’s say you want to shoot a long, 15 minute exposure to make a star trails image, and there is a half moon,” says Grant. “You might be at f/2.8, ISO 400. After you make your 15-minute exposure, put the lens cap on, cover your viewfinder with your hat, and then make another 15-minute exposure, or ‘dark frame.’ Then take this image into Photoshop or Lightroom as a layer above your star trails image and change the blending mode of the dark frame to ‘difference.’” This post-production technique removes the noise and gives a cleaner final image.

Photo by Grant Kaye/Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, CA - long exposure of star trails at new moon with dark frame subtraction.

Another method is to stack multiple images shot with as short of an interval that you camera/card combo can handle. “One second is ideal,” says Grant, “and then you can fire off a sequence of a few hundred shots. Others may want to do less post-processing, and they should shoot 3-5 minute exposures with a very short 1-5 second interval between frames, and then stack these.”

Photo by Grant Kaye/Alabama Hills, CA - stack of 279 exposures from a timelapse.

“With either technique,” says Grant, “dark frame subtraction is essential to mitigate noise as a last processing step.”

6. Find the “infinity point”.

Focusing and composing – they’re some of the most basic photographic techniques; but things get tricky when there’s no light to guide you. So instead, night photographers must find the “infinity point” on their lenses.

“I typically start out by temporarily setting my camera to the highest ISO it is capable of,” says Grant. “I then switch the camera into Bulb mode, adjust the focus to approximately where I think the infinity point is, and hold down the shutter with my finger for 2-6 seconds. The resulting image isn’t useable due to extremely high levels of ugly pattern noise, but it will tell you what is in your composition, and whether or not your focus is at the right point by whether the stars are crisp dots or fuzzy.”

From there, you can make small adjustments to your focus until you get it right, and then switch back to usable ISOs. It’s a departure from the “normal” routine, but then again, so is much of night photography.

Photo by Grant Kaye/Bribie Island, Brisbane, Australia - short exposure, just at break of dawn with heavy light pollution and rare astronomical phenomenon.

Additional resources

Grant also shared a few of his favorite resources for more in-depth night photography tips:

• Star Trails and Night Photography by Steven Christenson, Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2010, with tips on preparing your camera, getting the right exposure, and processing images.
• Free software for stacking star trail photos by Floris van Breugel is a script that removes the gaps that photographers get when stacking images in post-production.
• Using Image Calibration to Reduce Noise in Digital Images by Jeff Medkeff via photo.net has a ton of info on dark frame subtraction.
• Grant Kaye’s full archive of vibrant, colorful landscape and night-sky photography and time-lapses.
• Selling Nature Photography, a free guide by PhotoShelter.

Shawn got his start working for commercial photographer Jeff Sacks, based in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Sacks and Corrigan were both alums of the Antonelli Institute, and had mutual friends through Shawn’s uncle. From the beginning of his career, it was apparent to Shawn just how important mutual friends and personal connections are in the photography industry.

The very first day on set assisting Jeff, he also realized how little he knew despite his specialized photography degree. Echoing the same sentiment as many of his peers, he admits he learned far more in the field than he did in the classroom. He stayed on with Jeff for a while, traveling both for photography assisting and shooting on his own. At some point, he decided to make the major move to New York City.

“One connection to one person ended up with me having a pretty strong photography assisting career in New York, ” says Shawn. “The one thing that people don’t realize is that the world is so tiny, everybody knows everybody.”

Shawn started out as a second photography assistant and worked his way up from there. “I’m like-minded with a lot of people I work with, so before they ask me for something I’m handing it to them,” he says. “When you are around, it gives them peace of mind, and they can just think about being creative.”

He also brings one of those “everything but the kitchen sink, plus the kitchen sink” bags to set. As the resident helper/problem-solver, Shawn says that you will definitely need a kit. As for what you need to put in your bag, tool belt, or backpack, the two things assistants absolutely must bring to every shoot are a leatherman and a light meter. Below is a checklist of additional items you should consider packing:

Items from Shawn's tool kit

In his 10 years of working, 2011 was the first year where the majority of Shawn’s income did not come from photo assisting. But, he is not quite done with it yet. When asked to describe what he has learned from assisting Shawn says, “There’s so much. Right now, a really great thing is that it’s still teaching me. That’s why I keep doing it. As you get older, you start developing these really great relationships with your photographers and they start sharing insights with you that you would never, ever see otherwise.”

Takeaways

• You are ultimately there to put the photographer at ease so he/she can focus on the creative.
• While on set, always be asking yourself, “What if?” and “What’s next?”
• Your entire assisting career can start with one person. Don’t miss any opportunity to make a connection.

Shawn Corrigan is just one of four photography assistants that we profiled in The Photo Assistant’s Handbook. Get more insights on how to succeed as a photography assistant in this free guide.

I love photography.

Why am I telling you this? Isn’t it self-obvious? Don’t we all love photography? The answer is no. There is a percentage of photographers who hate photography. They do not appreciate photography. They do not consume photography. They don’t look at photo books or photo magazines. They hate the guy with the iPhone taking Instagram shots. They hate the guy who just bought the D4 because they don’t have one. They hate people using digital because film is what real artists use. They hate photographers who embrace social media because images should stand on their own. They hate Getty, Corbis, the AP, day rates, photo editors, assistants, rental houses, camera stores, point-and-shoots, iPads, zoom lenses, padded camera straps, wheeled suitcases, younger photographers, older photographers. The photo of so-and-so on the cover of whatever it’s called sucks. That guy copied the other guy, he sucks. Terry Richardson sucks. Chuck Close sucks. Vincent Laforet hasn’t taken a still in 17 years. Kodak hasn’t been managed well since the 70s. Blah, blah, blah.

I love photography. Let me show you why.

This was my favorite image of 2011 shot by Rich Lam for Getty Images during the rioting that occurred after Game 7 of the Stanley Cup. It’s amazing. It’s a crazy juxtaposition of love amidst protest, which was such a dominant theme this year. As many people have commented, it’s a modern day From Here to Eternity. You look at it and you think, “What the hell is going on?” And then you hear the back story and it’s even more amazing that it happened and someone was there to capture it. I’d like to hang it on my wall.

Rüdiger Nehmzow took these incredible photos of clouds from an open door of a plane. Who does that? He’s not complaining about Terry Richardson. He’s too busy creating amazing photos. Speaking of which…

People say the guy has no talent. They hate the on-camera flash. But you know what? That’s Terry Richardson‘s thing. That’s what he does. Do you have a thing? Are you known for your visual style? Sure, maybe you could have taken better photos of Lady Gaga if you had access. But you didn’t. Terry did because he built a reputation and a career. And this photo happens to have some Italian chick with a big nose washing her face and smiling, oh and by the way, she’s an incredibly creative and talented mega star. I was in Tokyo over the New Year’s drinking a coffee in a bookstore, and I flipped through the entire book. Hey man, she was born that way.

This is perhaps the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life from the Mainichi Shinbun (literally “Daily Newspaper”). It’s a black wall of water crashing over a seawall from the Tohoku earthquake that killed nearly 16,000 people. I saw a stupid Matt Damon movie called “Hereafter” that had a CGI tsunami. Then I saw video of the real thing, and I was speechless. A tsunami isn’t a wave. It’s a wall.

My high school hired me to take a series of portraits of Bay Area alumni, so I hired my buddy Max Morse to assist me. Here was the set up shot. I really like it. I posted it on his Facebook wall, and he made it his profile picture. I once made a photo that Missy McLamb took of me into my Facebook profile picture. She commented back that it was the highest compliment. I didn’t fully grok what she meant at the time, but now I do.

2011 marked the ten year anniversary of September 11. I live a few blocks from Ground Zero, so I walked down with my camera hoping to make an iconic shot. But it was cloudy as all hell, and I couldn’t see the towers of light piercing into the night sky. Then I see Eric Thayer‘s photo. Where was I? How much more uplifting could a ten year anniversary photo of 9/11 be?

Reuter’s journalist Barry Malone captured this image near Somalia. The juxtaposition is boggling. Guy in suit. Dead cow that is so starved it looks like a leather jacket. And craziest of all, he’s using an iPad as a camera — a scene that couldn’t have existed until last year since the iPad 2 came out in the Spring. Since then, I’ve seen this all the time. In fact, my father uses his iPad as a camera.

Protests were happening everywhere from Wall Street to Tahrir Square. And in Greece where economic issues are abound, Nodas Stylianidis captured this self-immolation photo, which of course, reminds me of Malcolm Browne‘s photo from Vietnam.

Peggy Sirota took these funny photos of comedian Ken Jeong photo bombing super model Kate Upton. I wrote a blog about it. People got upset. Said it was gross. Said it was demeaning. But I laughed when I saw the photos. It made me happy. It’s poking fun at the very things that are supposed to be demeaning. Are you trying to convince me that this is perpetuating negative stereotypes?

My high school classmate Tina and I share a stupid on-going exchange about Nicolas Cage, who has had his share of problems. When my birthday rolled around, she didn’t resort to the typical “happy birthday, allen!” wall post. No, no. She made a composite. It’s some sort of horse head nebula. With a cupcake. And Nic Cage’s floating head atop the cupcake. It’s amazing. This photo, by the way, is perpetuating negative stereotypes of Nic Cage Nebula Cupcake photos.

I love photography.

There’s a teenager in Japan named Natsumi Hayashi. She had some average Canon DSLR, but she came up with this concept to take self-portraits that look like she’s levitating. She takes a few hundred images jumping up and down and trying to strike the right pose. She has a Facebook Fan Page and lots of people take homage shots, but they’re just jumping in the air. They don’t levitate. They don’t jump 100 times for the perfect image. They don’t do it over the course of a few years to make it their own. She’s just a girl with a camera, and then all of a sudden she got a gallery show and a 5D, and I was really psyched for her. Her photos inspired me to levitate, and what could be a greater gift?

I love photography.

Tech. Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez of the US Air Force took this photo of a Special Operations dog jumping out of a plane. I’ve seen a few images similar to this. It’s amazing. It’s amazing that a dog helped Seal Team 6 kill Osama bin Laden. It’s amazing that dogs jump out of planes with people. It’s amazing that military personnel are there to photograph this stuff, and even more amazing that it gets published.

Tony Cenicola humorously photograped a chicken to accompany a New York Times article on cooking with chicken skin. On the Lens blog, reader Carol J. Adams commented:

“Not only has the Times featured a misogynistic image, they are now celebrating it by discussing it in a blog? This is the sexual politics of meat; it is about sexualizing the dead flesh of an animal by associating it with women’s bodies. It is anti-woman, it is anti-animal; it’s a pathetic, dated, sensibility. All around the world meat companies have beaten you to this. This is a new low for the Times. Beheaded female bodies as attractive? Just who do you think you are eating?”

ScottA responded:

“@Carol J. Adams – Your comment does not hold weight with its own blatant disrespect for the male form that is Burt Reynolds. Why your mind took an innocent image of a chicken, and associated it with a female body is beyond me.”

It is a chicken, right? I dunno, I get confused between people and chicken sometimes.

While some photographers complain about stolen images, security and thumbnail sizes, editor Alan Taylor went in the opposite direction. In 2008, he created the Boston Globe’s “The Big Picture” which was one big page of lots of incredible photos that were 990 pixels wide. No tiny thumbnails, no watermarks, no Flash, no bullshit slideshows that were only developed to create page inventory against which to sell ads. Nope. The Big Picture was about showcasing photography, and it’s glorious.

He was so successful that The Atlantic hired him away in early 2011 to start In Focus, which continues the large format tradition.

My friend Caroline doesn’t own a camera. She keeps using the crappy camera on her Blackberry. But it doesn’t matter. It’s not always about the quality of the image, or the composition, or the lighting. Sometimes it’s just about the people in the image and the feeling that it elicits. She went back home to Chicago this summer and had brunch with her mom. Someone took a photo with that crappy little cellphone, and now they can remember that brunch forever.

My best friend got married in September, and I took this photo of him hugging his father at the rehearsal dinner. It’s a pretty crappy photo. The light was really orange, and this was the best I could do with the white balance. His father’s face is obscured, but it’s an honest photo.

Last week, his father passed away following heart surgery. I knew his father for 20 years. I saw my first snow at their house over Christmas break in 1994, where I also did my first snow angel at the age of 18. I spent hours at the piano while his father played the guitar. I spent hours at the computer looking at all his father’s flower photos. Tell me that this is a shitty photo. (It is) Tell me that you could have done better. (You could have) Tell me that I didn’t need a $5000 camera to capture this. (I didn’t) Then tell me how I would feel without this photo, and tell me how photography sucks.

The business of photography is undergoing massive change. People who used to make a ton of money aren’t making the same money any more. Amateurs are giving away photos for free. I totally get it.

But listen. There are so many more incredible photos today than there ever were. And more people consume more photography than they ever did thanks to things like Facebook, Instagram, iPads, blogs, and “best of” compilations. This is the golden age of photography. Everyone takes photos now, and there is inspiration all around us. History is being made, and we’re capturing it.

I love photography.

Knowing how fast technology changes, we figured it was time for an update. So we went back to several of the same photographers and asked them again, “What point-and-shoot camera do you use now  and in your opinion, what’s the best point-and-shoot camera?” Several of the same big-name pros like Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith and photojournalist David Burnett gave their two-cents; we also posed the question on PhotoShelter’s Twitter and Facebook to get some fresh opinions.

Each pro also offered expert advice on their point-and-shoot photography, so there’s no shortage of techniques and gadget how-to’s in here. Given how far these cameras have come, there’s more than ever to be said about technique and style.

If you’re looking for even more guidance from the pros, you can now get our FREE Photo Business Bootcamp covering everything from business strategy to website design to email marketing. This comprehensive 5-week email series is designed to guide photographers who are ready to achieve greater success in their photography business. You can learn more about this free photo business series here.

And now, here’s the roundup of this year’s point-and-shoot cameras (we saved the most popular response for last). We’re also curious – what digital point-and-shoot camera are you using? Tell us in the comments. 

Nikon COOLPIX P7000

Jon Blacker

Camera:

In the past year I’ve moved on from the Canon G-Series of point-and-shoot cameras to a Nikon P7000.

Accessories or add-on’s:

I love the video capabilities of the P7000 which at 24fps, match he D7000 I own (and use exclusively for video). I shoot a lot of location portraits and can simply clamp the P7000 to a light stand and let it run, capturing behind the scenes video that I can later incorporate seamlessly into my “standard” video without any framerate compatibility issues. The only real accessory I use is a Sennheiser MKE400. This tiny shoe-mount shotgun mic plugs right into the P7000 and provides great audio. In a pinch, there have been a couple of times when I’ve done video interviews with the P7000/MKE400 combination and the results were great. I also love that it has an optical viewfinder which I use exclusively when I’m using the camera to shoot stills.

Pro advice on usage:

The camera works just as you’d expect right out of the box. Because of the small sensor size, high ISO is still an inherent issue with point-and-shoot cameras but the P7000 makes nice files up to 800, even 1600 if your exposure is bang on, and it’s quiet which is great when you’re trying to be relatively invisible.

New camera I’m dying to use:

Given the current options available, I’d likely still stick with the P7000; its replacement, the P7100 may have a couple of nice little tweaks that I may find useful on occasion (like a flip-out LCD), but the actual image capabilities and 24fps video of the P7000 are ideal for what I use this camera for.  If I were in the market for a point-and-shoot right now, I’d find another P7000.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Jon Blacker

Fred Rollison

Camera:

Nikon P7000

Accessories or add-on’s:

I don’t use any add-on’s or gadgets, but I might look at an underwater housing in the future since I’ve been surprised with the quality of the images so far.

Pro advice on usage:

 My advice would be to take some time getting used to the camera’s responsiveness especially with any action and moving subjects. I think Nikon’s P7100 is better at this though based on the reviews I’ve read. I haven’t shot much in the past using just a camera’s LCD to compose, but was surprised how easy it was even in bright sunlight and shooting a moving subject. Also, shooting raw is a big advantage even if you think you won’t need a raw file later. I want to add more personal work to my website and this a good camera to keep with me for those opportunities.

New camera I’m dying to use:

After using this camera I will take a closer look at Nikon’s new V line and its future products.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Fred Rollison

Nikon Coolpix P300

Corey Rich

Camera:

Nikon P300

Accessories or add-on’s:

None…it’s a great camera out of the box!

Pro advice on usage:

I love the fact that it’s a 24mm lens and f/1.4. Allows me to shoot in super low light. Fantastic still images and full HD video! Also the ultra small form factor allows me to carry it with me all the time.

New camera I’m dying to use:

At the moment the P300 is the camera for me. I don’t see a better camera on the market at the moment for the price point

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Corey Rich

Ricoh CX5

David Burnett

Camera:

Ricoh CX5

Accessories or add-on’s:

I don’t have any additional goodies for it.

Pro advice on usage:

The camera is great in macro, tele, and even makes reasonable 1280 video (audio lags but the images are pretty nice).

The great thing about the CX4 & CX5 is that they take 2 or 2.5 per second, and you can figure out when your moment will be…start shooting ahead a little bit, and let the moment happen on about frame 5 or 8 or 11.

New camera I’m dying to use:

I like the new Fuji 10x. But for me the main thing is shutter lag…and figuring out ahead of time, as anticipation is the key, when to fire.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by David Burnett

Leica D-LUX 4

Gunther Deichmann 

Camera:

Lecia D-LUX 4

Accessories or add-on’s:

No.

Pro advice on usage:

Take it where ever you go…a point and shoot comes in very handy, I use it a lot on planes, airports shooting from taxi windows and take it to restaurants and meetings with me. It is a perfect very light extra travel companion.

New camera I’m dying to use:

I am happy at the moment with this one, it does the job for me.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Gunther Deichmann

Fujifilm FinePix X100

Konstantin Golovchinsky

Camera:

FujiFilm FinePix X100

Accessories or add-on’s:

The only “gadget” I use is a Tamrac N45 strap, which is my favorite of all time, I have one on each of my cameras.

Pro advice on usage:

Aside from the image quality, which I’m in love with, I find the overall use of the camera a chore. The build-in automatic panorama is easy and wonderful to use. Alas the focus is slow, and frequently misses the mark so you have to refocus; forget about catching the decisive moment instantly, you have to be prepared, and prefocused on the right spot in advance, then wait and hope the action happens where you planned.

Also any function you wish to access usually means pushing many buttons and multiple menus. I still haven’t wrapped my head around how it exposes, most of my shots are under-exposed, some are over. The rear screen isn’t helpful because it shows one thing and the RAW capture is something completely different. The last issue I have is my own fault, I just can’t get used to the 35mm equivalent lens, I’d like something wider (28mm) or longer (40-50mm).

New camera I’m dying to use:

Strangely enough I’d like to try the Fuji x10 that’s due to come out any day, it has the same chip but a zoom lens and reputedly faster focus. Also when I was originally shopping for the x100, I considered the Leica X1, which I passed on because of a lack of built-in optical viewfinder. Sadly I end up using the rear screen on my Fuji 95% of the time.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Konstantin Golovchinsky

Ryan Armbrust

Camera:

FujiFilm FinePix X100

Accessories or add-on’s:

I can take this camera with a Gorilla Pod and be set. I recently took this camera, left all my “normal” gear at home, during a vacation to Seattle and Victoria BC. I could shoot everything I wanted to shoot with just this little camera!

Pro advice on usage:

The focus system can be a little slow, but if you know this, it is not a problem.

New camera I’m dying to use:

I would love to try out the new mirrorless Nikon 1 system.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Ryan Armbrust

Tony Gale

Camera:

Fuji X100

Accessories or add-on’s:

None.

Pro advice on usage:

Use the viewfinder as much as possible for additional stability.

New camera I’m dying to use:

Fuji x10 or Sony NEX-7.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Tony Gale

Sony NEX-5N

Brian Smith

Camera:

Sony NEX-5N

Accessories or add-on’s:

Sony NEX-5N Electronic Viewfinder, Sony NEXT Camera Mount Adapter LA-EA2, Sony 24mm/1.8 E-Mount Lens, Sony CZ 85/1.4, and Sony CZ 24-70/2.8.

Pro advice on usage:

For my prime-time debut photographing celebrity portraits of the X Factor Finalists with SONY NEX-5N, I passed the cameras out to all the contestants so they could see how easy it was to get great professional results with a camera small enough they can take it with them everywhere.

New camera I’m dying to use:

I’m waiting on my NEX-7 but it’s delayed by the floods in Taiwan…

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Brian Smith

Canon PowerShot G10

Tom Dymond

Camera:

Canon G10

Accessories or add-on’s:

It’s great having a hot shoe on it for dropping in a pocket, wizard on for test shots, but I also like using a 430 or 580 ex with it as well.

Pro advice on usage:

Had this camera way over 4 years now, as I just really like working with it. It travels with me everywhere. Would recommend an extra battery for it, as well as a good case or screen protector. As it’s an older camera now, the noise above 800asa is still pretty poor, so I try and shoot below that most of the the time.

New camera I’m dying to use:

I’ve heard good things about the Canon G12 but would also like a play with an Olympus Pen, and of course there always a soft spot in my heart for the Lecia M9.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Tom Dymond

Canon PowerShot G11

Blair Ball

Camera:

Canon G11

Accessories or add-on’s:

No gadgets.

Pro advice on usage:

Big fan of the SCN settings you can doing everything from Stitching, to Portrait, to Landscape, to Sunset, to Indoors, to Fireworks, to Snow, to Night. Love all these settings, which do an amazing job on white balance, highlights and colors. Sunrise and Sunsets you tend to blow out highlights, and this camera adjust for that without the use of ND filters.

New camera I’m dying to use:

The new Panasonic announced for this winter that will use twin lenses, and be 3D as well as 3D HD.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Blair Ball

Marshall Cant

Camera:

Canon G11

Accessories or add-on’s:

For the point-and-shoot cameras, I don’t have any gadgets. I carry them because it’s not always convenient to carry my “pro” camera stuff. Even though the G11, for example, isn’t really a pocket-sized camera, it’s still much easier to pack around than a DSLR.

Pro advice on usage:

This level of point-and-shoots expect that the user has some basic knowledge of camera settings. They aren’t as sophisticated in terms of “automatic scene modes” that a true high end point-and-shoot might have…so if you need a fully automated camera, then others would be better. I wanted manual control of a small camera so I chose the G11.

New camera I’m dying to use:

This could be a long list but I’ll control myself!

1) The Nikon P7100 isn’t available yet but I am really wanting to try it. The ergonomics of the G11 just don’t work. In fact I have essentially given that camera to my 13 year old daughter (a budding photographer) because the size is perfect for her hands.

2) The new Nikon mirror-less cameras. I think these have huge potential in the future.

3) Fuji X10. I tested a Fuji 100 early on (literally the first one here) and was disappointed (no adequate RAW support) But that’s the price you sometime pay for early adoption. I don’t particularly like the retro-look of the Fuji’s but hear that quality is now very good. The only negative about the 100 is the price…too much for a rangefinder (read point-and-shoot) camera.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Marshall Cant

 Scott MacDonald

Camera:

I’m using a Canon G11. Before this, I had a Canon G9.

Accessories or add-on’s:

I always bring along a three-inch tall tripod with bendy legs — it works great for a lightweight setup that I can carry on hikes or use to shoot video. Also, the underwater housings Canon makes for the G-series are inexpensive and fun for snorkeling.

Pro advice on usage:

In addition to regular point-and-shoot duties, I’ve been using it a lot as a remote camera, taking advantage of the camera’s silent shutter, small size and remote terminal to put it in places that a DSLR couldn’t go. In the photo I’ve included for this post, the camera was right above the couple’s head during their backyard wedding, getting views of the ceremony, including the kiss (you can see me shooting in the background). I mounted it with a Bogen Superclamp and triggered it with a Pocket Wizard, which I connected to the camera with a short 1/8″ mono cable and a 1/8″ to 3/32″ adapter I picked up at Radio Shack. It was barely visible and never heard.

This setup also works well to use the camera for time lapse shooting, using the same cable and the Pocket Wizard MultiMax’s intervalometer mode.

New camera I’m dying to use:

No camera manufacturer has yet made the point-and-shoot I really want: It will have a fast, fixed lens, accurate manual focusing and quick auto focusing, a huge sensor, great low-light performance, fit in my pocket and cost less than a grand. (A guy can dream, right?)

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Scott MacDonald

Canon PowerShot G12

Clark Dever

Camera:

Canon G12

Accessories or add-on’s:

Sometimes I use a LED ring light I bought for $30 on Amazon. I also use the super reliable Pocket Wizard IIs attached to always bomb-proof Vivitar 285hvs. And my favorite modifiers for the Vivitars is the Westcott Apollo.

Pro advice on usage:

The hot-shoe will only trigger the pocket wizards in single-shot mode (PW’s support was helpful, canon’s was not while trying to debug this issue). Due to the sensor size, you can’t depend on Bokeh to seperate your subject from the background. It’s best to use composition and light to highlight you subject in portraiture. The scene modes are helpful for creating fun effects, the “tilt-shift” is great for creating miniature shots.

Remember that you have the ability to shoot 720p video, it’s a create way to create quick clips to compile multi-media pieces. Utilize the movable screen to compose creative shots from hard to reach view points.

New camera I’m dying to use:

1) Fuji X-100 – I’m totally stoked to try out this camera, it came out after I bought my g12

2) Sony Alpha NEX-3A – Either of these detachable lens compact cameras seem like they would be interesting to try.

3) Samsung NX100

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Clark Dever

Canon PowerShot D10

Tamara Gentuso

Camera:

Canon D10

Accessories or add-on’s:

No add-ons or gadgets. I do occasionally use Nik Effex when I open up the images in Aperture.

Pro advice on usage:

LOVE the fact that it is water-proof and fits into my jeans pocket. Play with the no-flash feature – often makes a better photo than the flash does (especially if the light in not particularly low or if your subject is close to you) since you cannot really control the intensity of the flash.

New camera I’m dying to use:

I wouldn’t mind finding the Canon PowerShot @100 in my stocking this Christmas….

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Tamara Gentuso

Canon PowerShot S90

Michelle Lawlor

Camera:

Canon S90

Accessories or add-on’s:

I don’t use any add-on’s or gadgets, though I have lately been eyeballing a custom grip made specifically for this camera. The one gripe I do have about the camera is that it can sometimes be like holding a bar of wet soap. I always use the wrist strap… sometimes I have to hold on pretty tightly and there’s just nothing “grippy” to hold on this camera.

Pro advice on usage:

Get additional batteries! As there is no standard viewfinder, you constantly rely on the screen on the back, which is a big battery hog. I bought an off-brand battery that performs just as well as the mfr battery that came with the camera. As with any camera, the more you use it the more you will understand its strengths and weaknesses. It’s quite a capable camera in so many different light scenarios and it has allowed me to get a great image when I was without my normal full-size SLR. Take it everywhere, make photos every day and you’ll really learn what this little baby can do.

New camera I’m dying to use:

I’m very interested in exploring the micro 4/3 format. I’ve had my eye on the Panasonic Lumix GF1 for some time now. I love the idea of having a quality imagemaker in my purse at all times. But for now I’ve got the S90 and that works great for my current needs.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Michelle Lawlor

Ignacio Aronovich & Louise Chin

Camera:

We are currently using two point-and-shoots. The same old S90 we mentioned on the previous blog post, and an iPhone 4.

Accessories or add-on’s:

Not really. The only add-on is a neoprene pouch for the S90 made by Zing Designs.

Pro advice on usage:

On the S90, shoot RAW, wide is better (and brighter) than tele, find a surface or place to brace camera for best results.

New camera I’m dying to use:

We wouldn’t mind using an M9 with a 35mm.

As for point-and-shoot’s, a larger sensor on a point-and-shoot camera à la Fuji X100 (with the X10 form factor) would be welcome. The Canon S100 specs are also appealing, more so than the changes from S90 to S95, which didn’t convince us to upgrade our S90. It’s painless to skip a model or two as the improvements are mostly incremental, not quite revolutionary, in most cases.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Ignacio Aronovich & Louise Chin

Panasonic Lumix GF1

Jeremy Goldberg

Camera:

I still use a GF1 and also added an X100 for low light shots.

Accessories or add-on’s:

I use some old lenses on the GF1, no accessories on the X100 except a fast SD card.

Pro advice on usage:

Exposure is more important on the smaller cameras – less forgiving than the bigger chip DSLR’s.

New camera I’m dying to use:

I’d love to see an interchangeable lens X100 with a better menu system, or a GF1 with a leaf shutter and great high ISO. Both cameras are great, but are more complementary than competitive.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Jeremy Goldberg

Julian Anderson

Camera:

Panasonic GF1 for me.

Accessories or add-on’s:

I use the add-on viewfinder. Very useful. Plus the 2mm F1.7 lens – I’m a purist!

Pro advice on usage:

I use it on RAW 1:1 format too – I prefer square format.

New camera I’m dying to use:

I like the look of the Fuji X100 for future upgrade.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Julian Anderson

Tomas Tyner

Camera:

Panasonic Lumix GF 1

Accessories or add-on’s:

Do not really use gadgets with the camera but I have to keep an eye on the lens hood as It’s not the most secure fit. I remember in France having to go back looking for it and asking in my very basic French if anyone found a lens hood. Somebody had found it so we got reunited :-).

Pro advice on usage:

The only other thing is that the LCD screen is difficult to see in very bright conditions, though I’d guess all LCD’s are hard to see under such conditions. The flash is fine as flashes go but because it’s a pop up flash you have to watch that you do not snag it on something. The camera has also survived a fall of about 5 feet and the only thing that happened is the battery door fails to close, so it can take a fall – duct tape sorted the battery door.

New camera I’m dying to use:

I’d consider an upgrade to the new GX1 and also consider a Nikon V1 maybe, as I’ve never owned a Nikon being a Canon shooter.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Tomas Tyner

iPhone

Randy Santos

Camera:

My trusty Canon G9 died in it’s sleep as of this last blog post. I now have a Canon G11 as a point-and-shoot but I must admit my iPhone has taken over as my #1 favorite. In fact I’m somewhat obsessed with iPhonography – but obsessed in a good way – I think.

Accessories or add-on’s:

Still using my same overstimulated hyperactive brain.

Pro advice on usage:

Yes – I use Hipstamatic like everyone else – but love it! So many other cool free Apps, too many to list, but I’ll most times shoot with Hipstamatic App and run the image through another App to achieve my desired effect. Some of my current favorites this week are Iris, pixl ‘r’ matic, qbro, 100 Cameras, iQuickDoF, LemeCam, and many more.

New camera I’m dying to use:

Fuji FinePix X100.

Photo by Randy Santos

Daniel Houghton 

Camera:

iPhone 4s

Accessories or add-on’s:

No, just some apps like Instagram and Pano.

Pro advice on usage:

Forget that you are using a phone to shoot a picture and just use it like any other tool. After all, it’s always in your pocket.

New camera I’m dying to use:

Sigh… The Leica M9-P. I dream about this camera. It’s just so expensive…

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Daniel Houghton

Camera:

iPhone

Accessories or add-on’s:

For quite some time I was very anti the whole iphonography movement as I felt it took the skill away from creating an image as your just playing with  fancy filters to make an inanimate object look interesting in most cases. But then this ease got the better of me….I don’t use any add ons as such but occasionally would use Hipstermatic to give an image a certain look or an enhancement using Photoshop mobile.

Pro advice on usage:

Keep an eye on the lens as its can get filthy. Play around with different apps to get a look that you like and not just the standard presets. Think out the box a bit, don’t just shoot you pretty flatwhite in the morning, try and capture an interesting moment.

New camera I’m dying to use:

I have been looking at the Fujifilm X100 and the Canon S100 as an upgrade from my D-LUX. But the camera I would love to get my hands on would be of course a Leica M9P. In my eyes it would be my compact and my main camera for personal work.

Photo by Frazer Waller

Patrick Smith

Camera:

iPhone 4

Accessories or add-on’s:

I am shooting straight with the camera, nothing speical. I process everything in Camera+ now and publish straight to Tumblr.

Pro advice on usage:

There shouldn’t be any advice needed. See something that inspires you? Pull out your phone and snap away.

New camera I’m dying to use:

At this point, none. I’m very satisfied with my iPhone as my point-and-shoot and my Nikon D3S and other DSLR as my workhorses.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Patrick Smith

Steven Bisig

Camera:

iPhone 4

Accessories or add-on’s:

Nope, just the factory-installed software on the phone.

Pro advice on usage:

Keep the HDR function on, then keep the best of the two shots.

New camera I’m dying to use:

Nothing yet, waiting for the Nikon D4 or D800.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Steven Bisig

Adam Crowley

Camera:

Lately, I’ve really been into my iPhone4.

Accessories or add-on’s:

I don’t have the 4S, but I’ve really enjoyed the app Instagram.  I find Instagram to be not only a neat photo editing app, but a really fantastic community of photo enthusiasts.  I’ve had a lot of creative inspiration by checking out the images posted on the Instagram site.  I really recommend it to anyone with a smart phone.  That app has really made me re-examine what it means to make imagery.

For other apps for my iPhone, I’m really liking NIX’s Snapseed. Also PhotoShop Express really rocks.

Pro advice on usage:

I think that the best advise I ever got in photography was to shoot through as much bad film (files) as possible. That means to keep practicing/working on one’s own photographic eye or vision. You can’t get to success without a lot of failure, so embrace it, and shoot away!

New camera I’m dying to use:

I’m really ready to get a Canon G12, but I’m really dying to get a Fuji X100.  I love the vintage exterior look to the camera, and I’ve seen some really nice files from it.

Shot I took using this camera:

Photo by Adam Crowley

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The Impromptu Shots

Personality and Emotion

“It sounds silly but I actually look for the birth of a memory…you can kind of see it coming if you’re paying attention. Say a bridesmaid comes over with a picture of the bride as a baby, or the best man touches his friend on the shoulder as the bride is coming down the aisle and you see them both in awe.” -Andrew Thomas Clifton

The Moment of Truth

Details & Close Ups

“Every single noun at a wedding has its own vantage point, and hence a story to tell. The cake, bride, and chairs all have perspectives to the story. So I tend to focus on the stories of individual nouns to provide a broad view later on. I’m a more tight shooter — I like 50mm and 35mm lenses at low apertures to really get in with an almost natural frame of view and show people the intimate connections of all the perspectives. That intersection point, where they all meet, is the wedding.” -Andrew Thomas Clifton

Proud Family Members

Kids!

Party Time

 ”For me, it is about capitalizing on the unexpected moments that produces the most compelling imagery.  I approach weddings with a documentary style, and just like making a picture story about any event, the challenge to me is always to take a moment where there is a lot going on, and distill all of the visual information in that moment into an organized, well-composed frame.  When it’s done well it should look elegant and effortless, and the relationships between the characters or elements in the photograph should express an emotion or a larger statement, serious or humorous, that goes beyond that moment and gives you something lasting, something timeless. ” -Brendan Bullock

“While the up close and personal dance shot is necessary for Mom, giving your couple a little instruction as to where you will be toward the end of the dance and to at least have their faces in the direction makes for a much more natural shot (they may even do something fun at the end if they know where you will be).  You also capture the mood of the guests and it gives a great perspective.” -Chris Chowaniec