TrevorCarpenter.com

I’d like to tell you all about a really awesome new photoblog that is launching today, Fine Art Photoblog. This exciting new site is not just the hard work of one person, hoping to capture a small audience. In fact, this is a joint venture between 7 of the most talented photographers I’ve had seen in quite a while. You can learn more about each photographer here. You’ll recognize one right off the bat, Brian Auer, my friend from Epic Edits.

The Fine Art Photoblog is a unique website dedicated to collectors and admirers of fine art photography. The site is something of a mix between art gallery, photoblog, and search engine.

You’ll find that they’re one part gallery, one part photoblog, and one part search engine. Basically, it’s not that they’re just trying to pimp their photos, but that they’re hoping to share their photography experience with you. This isn’t for every photo they take, it’s for the very best. Even now, you’ll see some really great looking photographs and you just might want to purchase one to hand on your wall. Of course, you can do that there too!

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So, back in December my pal Brian Auer, of Epic Edits, tossed out a sweet project for photo-bloggers to shoot themselves. That is, take a self portrait. The results are below, pretty cool, don’t you think?

It’s pretty cool to see all the great work done, below. Take some time and check out some really awesome photographers. You know, what’s unique about this project is that so many photo-bloggers tend to hide behind their camera. This project got us out in front, sorta. Here’s Brian’s recap post. Here’s the original post.

BLOGGERS

PHOTO-SHARERS

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I want you all to see my “Best of 2007″ collection. I’ve compiled my top photographs from Zooomr and Flickr, from over this past year, and organized them with a pretty nice tool. Click on the ones you want to see up close.

Take a look!

This nice tool came to me from a photo buddy, Kevin Devin. You can see his gallery too.

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***********Update***********
Follow along with the participants at Zooomr and Flickr.
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My October Challenge was so successful for me personally, and for the handful that participated, that I decided I want to continue growing and stretching my abilities. So I took some time this month to look at more areas of photography where I could use some work. I spent a good deal of energy flipping through pages of Zooomr, Flickr, and many photography blogs searching for genres of photography that interest me, but I lack the skill. Many ideas came to mind, but I continually kept coming back to portraits.

So, without further adieu…

For the month of December I will be shooting portraits. This time I won’t be committing to shooting only my topic all month. This challenge will be to shoot a portrait a day. One a day, each day, for the whole month of December.

Back at the beginning of October I was introduced to the photography of Bill Wadman. Bill is a New York based portrait photographer who completely rocks. During this whole year, 2007, he has been viciously attacking his own challenge to shoot a portrait a day, all year long! You can follow along, and see the year’s total so far, at 365Portraits.com.

Next, I sent out a call to my photoblogging friends, in search of the best existing blog posts about creating portraits, and I’ve been reading up on their tips. Here’s a short list of some good articles I’ve read:

• Photographing The People of Monterrey: Epic Edits
• How to bypass the Portrait Mode on Your Digital Camera and Get Great Portrait: DPS
• Overcoming Depth of Field Problems in Portraits: DPS
• Experiment with Different Framings with Portraits: DPS
• Top 5 Friday Better Portraits: Open Origins
• Super Quick And Easy Tip For More Flattering Portraits: Photodoto.com
• Portrait Lighting Names: Professional Photography 101
• Portrait Lighting For Beginners, Portraits With One Light: Sublime Light

You might think that a whole month is a long time to shoot a portrait every day. I’d agree, on a different month. December, however, makes it quite easy to shoot more people. This is mainly because of the increased interaction we all face during the Christmas season; Christmas parties, family dinners, gathering a bit more even at church, all events and activities that get me out and interacting with people more.

Another element to this Challenge is to try and shoot people in their daily life. A staged portrait in a studio has its place, but I’m not looking for that refinement. Catching people in their place of work, or in a place or state that is very typical for them is what I’m looking to capture. Below are several examples of what I’m striving to achieve.

I think I’ll actually schedule some of the shoots. I see no reason why I can’t plan ahead to stay on top of this undertaking.

So, do you think you have what it takes to accept an challenge like this? Are you satisfied with your own portraiture? Do you need or want to grow in your own ability to be more creative and get great light when shooting portraits?

Then join me as I shoot a portrait-a-day!

When tagging your images on Flickr and/or Zooomr, use “DecemberChallenge” so that we can track our progress. Additionally, if you want to vary this a bit for yourself, you could choose to shoot a stranger each day. That’s not my focus, but you may do that if you wish.

Below are a few really good portraits…

Oh yeah, Digg it!

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My friend Brian Auer, of Epic Edits, has put together one of the best lists of photography blogs I’ve ever seen. I knew I was following some good stuff, when I saw a great majority of the blogs I’m subscribed to, on that list.

Check it out!

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So, the October Challenge is over. How did you do?

Back at the end of September, I started writing a post telling you all that I wanted to shoot more black & white photography. While writing that post, it evolved into a project and a challenge for you all. If you remember back, I committed to shoot in only B&W for the whole month of October. And that is exactly what I did.

I must say that I really feel like I’ve unlocked some of my own creative potential through doing this personal project. I have found, especially in recent days, that as I’m shooting and conceiving a shot, I see the potential impact of the composition in black & white. Exciting!

Well, thanks for following along. Here’s the link to my photoset at Zooomr, of all my October Challenge photos. You know, one of the most exciting thing for me, in my photoblogging, was when Brian Auer, of Epic Edits, carried the torch of my October Challenge and passed it along to his significantly larger readership. As it turns out, a few others joined me in my October Challenge, so here’s all of their images too. Oh yeah, can’t forget about Flickr too!

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We drove to Pasadena yesterday and spent several hours roaming around the Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens. I’ve been there before, and it was a treat to return. The grounds are beautiful, organized into smaller gardens that are focused and specialized.

We saw most of the gardens, but spent some extra time in two of them. The Japanese Gardens are beautiful and great to walk the paths and bridges. We finished the day at the Children’s Garden, which was great for the kids.

If ever you have the opportunity, I highly suggest you visit the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens. Below are several of the photos I took, with this link, to my Photo Set at Zooomr.

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Hello all. As you know, I’ve become a crazy photographer. I’m dragging my dSLR around with me everywhere. If they’d let me take it into the jail, I would. As I progress, there are areas of photography that used to be foreign to me that I’m not playing around with. I would have never been interested in wide-angle architectural photography just a few months ago. Now I’m planning a while business plan around it.

Another area that is new is Black & White photography. I’ve known that every photography student starts there, shooting in B&W like crazy. I have messed around a little, with my infrared shots, but that’s kinda specialized.

So, I’ve decided to shoot only B&W photography for the month of October. I’ll exclude any professional shoots, but all of my photowalking and personal shooting will be B&W. Because I want control over the output, I’ll shoot normal, but convert all in Photoshop. I like to use the Channels tools to get the best look.

Why not join me? You don’t have to shoot B&W, but maybe there’s a genre of photography that interests you, something new, why not give it a try? I think limiting yourself can actually unlock creativity that you’ve never had before.

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This one is more of a personal photoblog, it’s called CamarilloWalk.com

I’m planning to get out and walk around my city, taking pictures. I’ll post the best one’s at CamarilloWalk.com

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