Night photography

Hello all
I took this shot in Beirut Lebanon, a very lively city by the Mediterranean.
Night photography is very rewarding as most of the distracting objects
will fade into the darkness.
A tripod is a must as you will need a small aperture to get the best result.
What I love about this image is that it reflects the spirit of that area.
I also just finished updating my website and I had to think hard of what to
include, although I will be adding more images very soon.
Keep on shooting

Getting organised

Hello folks
I've been away for a while, just got back from a two month trip to Lebanon.
After loads of shoots I'm facing the drama of organising all these files, but I must
admit that Lightroom is a lifesaver, the library module is just fantastic, once you get around the features you will fall in love with it. Getting all your files captioned and keyworded is priceless
specially if you submit your work to different agencies with different exclusivity levels.
Unfortunately I learned this the hard way after 3 years of submissions I ended up with a clogged hard drives and things were getting messy. One good read I highly recommend is The Dam .
Digital asset management becomes so easy its unbelievable, it covers all aspect of digital photography when it comes to organizing and backing up your files.

Keep on shooting

Shooting for book covers

If getting your work published on book covers interest you then a trip to the bookstore every now and then is a must. You get to see what kind of images are being used. You can always find something that match your style of work.
Inspiration is another thing you will benefit from keeping a close look at the market.
These are some of the books that I was lucky enough to get the tearsheets of.

Keep on shooting

Images of war

Moody portraits

I'm experimenting a lot recently with light, trying to add more drama to the portraits, its amazing how the feel of an image change simply by changing your lights. Getting the right level is a key as always.


Keep on shooting

Don't break the habit

I recently made a daily habit of editing, submitting and keywording.
It works, you will not get sales of pictures you don't have online already.
Although adding keywords maybe the ugly bit for me but somebody gotta do it, and I must admit that the new batch keywording interface on Alamy works a charm and does a better job than Advil.
A good piece of advice will be checking your keywords again and those easily overlooked keywords, It will be easy to adjust them now on Alamy, I added some of these easy to miss keywords about two months ago and I've seen a rise in sales.
keep on shooting

Finding the right balance

I have been away for a while now, lurking in the dark, writing endless "To shoot lists" but only when I started shooting that I started to feel different about the whole thing.
Shooting for stock is an ongoing process and needs a whole lot of stamina, one can not afford the absence of the will or the drive that will keep one going.
After a lot of contemplations I found that making a habit of shooting, editing and adding keywords a daily habit is one heck of a production booster.
One more thing I learned is that moving away from a subject just because the market is already flooded with it is a mistake. When I started shooting for stock there were already hundred of thousands pictures of business women, guess what makes 55% of my sales now?.
The equation is easy you are playing a waiting game that needs high numbers, keep your hands on the shutter and click away and don't worry about creativity, it shall come for those who seek it.
Keep on shooting