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How to Get Great Photos at Balloon Festivals and Related Events: PDF Available for Download
Some of my favorite photographs were taken at balloon festivals and other festivals around the world, so I thought you might like to know about a recent PDF Guide that I wrote entitled: 12 Tips for Getting Great Photos at Balloon Festivals and Related Events
photo © Andrew Darlow
You can download the PDF for free from this link.
If you’ve ever been to a Balloon Festival, feel free to post links to your photos or feel free to suggest one to others who may be reading this.
Some of the photos in the article were taken during the QuickChek NJ Festival of Ballooning. I often run a Meetup during a special Media Day that they have each year that allows photographers of all levels (and the media) to see the balloons up close for no fee.
Would you like more tips like this delivered directly to your in-box?
If you don’t receive my email updates, I invite you to sign up below (if you are already signed up, the system will let you know). When you sign up, you will instantly receive links and passwords to three Lightroom workflow videos, PLUS a link to a guide to help you select the right file sizes for making fine-art or other prints.
P.S. I also welcome you to join one of the Meetup Groups I run (see links below) if you would like to be invited to attend events like photo walks, workshops, etc. in the future.
https://www.meetup.com/The-Art-of-Photography-and-Photoshop/
https://www.meetup.com/nj-shore-shooters/
New Article on Tips for Photographing Pets in Costumes
Is it almost Halloween again? Time has a way of going faster as I get older :). I have fond memories of Halloween over the years. Not just the candy and cavities, but when I was much younger, it was always fun trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with friends. I just wrote a Short Guide for Photzy.com with some of my top tips for photographing pets in costumes. It’s called: DRESSED TO IMPRESS: 5 Tips for Photographing Pets in Costumes. It’s a free PDF download, and you can find it here.
Related Resource
Some similar tips to those found in the guide linked above can be found in my book, Pet Photography 101: Tips for taking better photos of your dog or cat (Focal Press). You can download a few free chapters from the book’s companion site, PhotoPetTips.com.
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PhotoPlus Expo 2015 Returns to NYC 10/21-10/24 – Tips and Selected Show Floor Talks
It’s almost here! As I always say, the toy store of all toy stores for photographers and videographers is returning to New York City in the form of the PDN PhotoPlus International Conference + Expo. The conference runs from Wed-Sat. 10/21-24 and the Expo runs from Thurs.-Sat. 10/22-24.
One of the best parts of the show is the fact that there is a LOT of free education and many fantastic photo opportunities (for example, amazing still life sets, male and female models, sports-related action, etc.) all around the show floor.
There are also many outstanding fee-based seminars happening, including post production seminars by industry experts including Katrin Eismann, Stephen Johnson, Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski and Julieanne Kost.
And even if you can’t make it to the show this year, you will find a lot of news and info (plus special offers) being mentioned on many of the social media feeds of just about all the companies who are taking part. The official PhotoPlus Expo Twitter feed is @PhotoPlusExpo, and their Facebook page can be found here.
TIPS FOR GETTING THE MOST FROM PHOTOPLUS EXPO
Here are some tips for getting the most from the show.
1. Read the Press Releases for the Show: The press releases for the PhotoPlus Expo have a lot of information about what’s happening at the show, including free and fee-based workshops and events. You can find all of the releases from the show organizers here.
2. Download the Free PhotoPlus Expo App: The PhotoPlus Expo app is truly fantastic resource. The app allows you to quickly view dates and times of many events and seminars. It also allows you to view a list of exhibitors with their booth numbers, and you can star (favorite) them and then refer to them later (under “Favorites” on the home page). I can’t tell you how helpful this was to have last year while walking the show floor compared with using a printed list of exhibitors. You can even mark a booth as visited, and you can take notes in the app for each exhibitor. I’m almost sure the app is iOS only, and here’s a link to it on Apple’s App Store.
3. Bring Your Camera to Test Different Lenses and Accessories: There’s nothing like being able to put the latest and greatest lens or flash unit on your camera to put it through its paces. Not every company will allow you to do this, but many will, and it can be very useful when trying to decide between a few different products.
4. Bring Media Cards to Test Different Cameras: By bringing a few smaller capacity and EMPTY SD/CF cards to put in cameras that you really want to test, you will come home with images that you can “pixel peep” to your heart’s content. I write EMPTY and smaller capacity because it is very easy to forget that your card is in a camera, and I’m sure you would not want to leave any important data (or an expensive card) behind.
5. Don’t Miss the Competition Galleries and other Photo Galleries on the Show Floor: Every year there are galleries of prints on the show floor containing absolutely stunning work. I never have enough time to spend there, but I’m always happy that I can enjoy the work.
6. Take Photos of the Booth Event Schedules: Some companies will publish their booth speaker schedules before the show, but many don’t. As you pass by schedules of events and speakers that look interesting to you, you can take a quick photo and refer to it at a later time.
7. Drink a Lot of Water! It can be tiring walking the show floor, especially with a bag full of whatever you bring, pick up, purchase, etc. 🙂
You can find more tips for getting the most from the Expo in this article from the folks at F-stoppers.
If you’d like to attend just the trade show but haven’t requested a free pass yet, you can sign up here. Free “trade show only” tickets are available until the end of day on 10/20. After 10/20, you may still be able to get free trade show only tickets by using an exhibitor’s code or link. Using the following set of keywords in your favorite search engine should bring up some companies offering links to free passes: “photoplusexpo 2015 free tradeshow pass.”
LIVE PHOTOGRAPHY THEATER TALKS ON THE SHOW FLOOR
Here’s a schedule of 30 minute presentations happening on the show floor in the “Photography Theater.”
SOME PHOTOPLUS-RELATED LINKS
• The main website for the PhotoPlus Expo.
• My review of some of the things I found very interesting from Day 1 of PhotoPlus Expo 2014.
• My review of PhotoPlus Expo 2013 (many of the same exhibitors will be attending in 2015.
• My review of PhotoPlus Expo 2012.
• Link to the PhotoPlus Expo iOS app
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UPCOMING MASTERING LIGHTROOM 6/CC WORKSHOP IN BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ WITH ANDREW DARLOW
Would you like to supercharge your Lightroom workflow? I’m returning to Berkeley Heights, NJ on Sunday, 11/22 for a full day workshop titled: “Mastering Lightroom Workflow: From File Organization to Effortless Manipulations.” The best way to find out more about the class is to sign up for my free Meetup Group here. Or you can download a PDF describing the workshop here.