Holly Stuart Hughes has an interesting article over at PDN Online about how photographer David A. Land goes about making sure his video interviews sound natural. He taught himself Final Cut Pro and edits his own footage.

For his assignment for Hand/Eye Magazine, a publication that supports handicraft around the world, and for West Elm, the home decor and furniture company, he used a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a Canon EOS 7D, fitted with a 50mm f/1.2 lens and a 85mm lens.

Some of his take-aways:

• Make the interview sound conversational
• Have an assistant sit near the camera mounted on the tripod, so the subject has someone to look at while answering questions
• Go over the questions and answers with the subject and coach them on what works
• Do a lot of takes

Gemma Orkin for West Elm from David Land on Vimeo.

Read the article at PDNonline.

A very interesting article over at PDN over “What If You Break a $300,000 Figurine While on Assignment?” True case, by the way with Corice Arman suing Art + Auction magazine for $300K (plus attorney fees). The 2,600 year-old archaeological figurine was smashed to pieces when staff of the magazine tried to move the object. The interesting part is what liability insurance covers — and what it does not. Don’t think you know. Read the fine prints.

Read the article at: PDN.

This year has been marked by many sad events: war, economic turmoil that is still being played out and natural disasters. In the world of photography, the year marked a turn in major news firms infringing on photographers’ copyrights, continued limits on public photography that don’t help anyone and death. PDN looks back on the biggest photography news stories in their 15 most-read news articles and blog posts of 2011.

Read the article at: PDN.

There’s an interesting article by Dan Havlik over at PDN on how Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Larry Price prefers to use his Olympus E-P3 with the 12mm pancake lens to keep his photography as discreete as possible. He finds it unobstrusive and that allows him to fit into many uncomfortable situations and to capture revealing moments without attracting attention.

Another photojournalist, Karim Ben Khelifa, took some shots with his iPhone for fun — and found that his editor wanted more. The iPhone allows him to be invisible, not tagged as a photojournalist and ignored. Perfect for capturing images quickly.

And then there’s photojournalist Michael Kamber who eschews the big DSLRs for his Leica M9.

What’s your story? Have you ditched your traditional mirrored DSLR for a mirrorless DSLR? Let’s hear about it.

Read the article at: PDN.

As photographers, we see lots that could be improved in our cameras during daily use. We moan and complain, but whining is about all we do. However, some take the need, design a solution and market a product. Here are the story of five [wedding] photographers who did just that. Gary Fong spent $15,000 to make the Lightsphere and ended up selling hundred of thousands of it. Jessica Claire and Keats Elliott wanted a practical and stylish lens bag and ended designing and manufacturing the Shootsac Lens Bag & True Color Covers. Andrew Niesen and Rachel LaCour Niesen created the studio management program ShootQ because they thought there had to be a more efficient way to manage their appointments.

Read How Inventors Turn Their Ideas Into Photo Products @ PDN.

Tumblr lists 30 reasons why you should use it as your blogging platform — and it seems that many photographers agree. There are 25+ million Tumblr users and many of them are photographers. Conor Risch examines why this is so.

Read the article at: PDN.

Dominique Palombo – Director/Photographer from Joe Lombardo on Vimeo.

This is a 5 minute fashion video for Rachel Roy that is part of the print/film campaign I shot featuring dancers and choreography by Jermaine Browne. The idea was to use dancers and different styles of movement to showcase the spring 2011 line.

source pdn

The PDN Photo Annual 2011 Photo Contest deadline is fast approaching on January 25, 2011, so you have only a few days left to get your submissions in. We usually do not report on contests where you have to pay to take part in but we’re making an exception on this one.

To qualify, photographs must be taken, published or produced between January 1, 2010 and January 25, 2011. Ongoing or in progress projects that contain older images are also allowed.

JUDGING: Entries will be judged on the basis of creativity, photographic quality and effectiveness in expressing the contest theme. Winners will be published in the June 2011 PDN issue exhibiting the PHOTO ANNUAL & PDNonline.com.

PDN has one of the shortest — and sweetest — contest rules EVER. Check out the part about what you are signing away by entering the contest:

CONSENT AGREEMENT: Submitted materials will not be returned. PDN is not responsible for the loss or damage of any entry. Submission of an entry to the contest automatically constitutes the contestant’s acceptance of all conditions set forth in the above rules. It also acknowledges the right of PDN and Photo District News to use the entry for publication on PDNonline.com and in exhibitions and promotions related to the PDN Photo Annual contest up to 18 months following the contest.

Notice PDN reserves to itself the right to use your submissions only for events related to the contest and for only a maximum of 18 months. No rights grab here. Bravo!

You can read all the rules and enter the contest at: PDN.

PDN has a very interesting article on stock photos that are very popular. They asked Corbis, Getty, Masterfile and Alamy for examples of those images that keep selling through the years. Each agency explains the factors they believe make these images favorites. The photographers also share their insight and recollections about creating the images.

Read the article at: PDN.