Please join all the major photography trade organizations by saying “NO” to the NYC Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting (MOFTB) plan to assess a $300 fee for film permit application processing. This is three hundred buck whether you’re doing a three month-long feature film with a crew of hundreds or a 15-minute still shoot with a crew of one.
For a feature film that’s nothing. But in a time that the magazine industry is particularly hard hit and everybody’s budgets are getting pared to the bone, it may me whether a shoot happens or not. This is a poorly conceived idea coming at the worst economic time and destined to place the heaviest burden on those who can least afford it. In short it’s a BAD idea.
All the major photography trade organizations: EP, ASMP, APA and NPPA will be at a hearing next Thursday, June 3 at 2PM at 125 Worth Street auditorium. If you are in the city that day, your attendance would be greatly appreciated!
If that’s not possible, please do the next best thing and sign the online petition saying “NO“!
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Mayor's Office of Film Theater and Broadcasting,
MOFTB,
NYC
I missed the opening of ‘Avedon Fashion 1944-2000′ at the International Center of Photography last Friday because I was at the Redux ‘American Youth’ launch party at the NY Photo Festival in DUMBO. Yesterday, I finally had a chance to check it out and am I glad I did!
The show features six decades of Avedon’s fashion images, it encompasses his magazine work from Harper’s Bazaar to Vogue through the New Yorker as well as the work he did for top fashion designers . Even if you’re familiar with Avedon’s work (and who isn’t?) this show is a must-see and truly inspiring.
The fashionable exhibition is the second installment in the International Center of Photography’s Year of Fashion. It includes 175 prints organized chronologically throughout ICP’s many galleries and includes a rare behind-the-scenes look at the magazine layout process showing many of Avedon’s original prints submitted to Harper’s Bazaar marked up with notes and crop marks.
One of the highlights of the show was seeing three versions of Avedon’s Dovima with Elephants. Be sure not to miss the scratched vintage print horizontal version downstairs..
Richard Avedon ‘Dovima with Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior, Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, France‘ – 1955
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Avedon,
Fashion Photography,
ICP,
Museum,
New York
Over the years, I’ve photographed portraits of athletes on their way up from Alex Rodriguez, Andy Roddick to Maria Sharopova. Some make it…and some don’t. None have been as rewarding to watch on their march to greatness as the Williams Sisters. While photographing Serena Williams for this week’s issue of Time Magazine, I was reminded of the very first time I photographed the sisters back in 1994 when Serena was a mere 12-year-old phenom.
Serena Williams, 2008
Venus & Serena Williams, 1994
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Brian Smith,
Fashion,
Miami Photographer,
Phenoms,
Serena Williams,
Tennis,
Time Magazine,
Venus and Serena,
Venus Williams
by Brian Smith on February 11, 2007
in Advertising Photography,Brian Smith,Celebrity Photography,Editorial Photographers,Editorial Photography,Education,Fashion Photography,Magazine Photography,Sports Photography,briansmith.com
FIRST: Most importantly…Shoot what you love to shoot. Work that’s from the heart will always be your strongest work. NEVER FORGET TO HAVE FUN!
SECOND: The next most important thing you can learn is how to relate to people. Even if you are a still life, architectural or landscape photographer who never shoots people you still must relate to people like clients, architects, designers and of course accounts payable. So go out and find 50 strangers, introduce yourself to them and shoot a portrait that says something about who they are – not just what they do.
THIRD: If you are trying to move on to better clients, treat every assignment you get as though you are shooting for your dream client. If you are at a small weekly newspaper and your dream is to shoot for a large metro, approach every assignment as though it was your first week at that dream job. The same is true if you are at a large metro newspaper and dream of shooting for Rolling Stone. Start shooting every job that way. Too many photographers just slide by with the idea that they can raise their quality when they get the ‘right’ clients and then wonder why they never get where they want to be. The truth is that as you advance up the ladder, the assignments don’t necessarily get any better but expectations certainly get higher. Raise your game … now!
FOURTH: INVEST! Stock, bonds, mutual funds, real estate … Even if you are one of those lucky bastards with a staff job and a retirement plan, let a portion of your earnings start working for you. Most photographers starting out don’t feel they can afford to put money away. The truth is you can’t afford NOT to!
For more suggestions like this, take a look at advice that I collected from my fellow members of Editorial Photographers in piece called “Starting Out.”
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Advice,
Brian Smith,
Career,
Editorial Photography,
Magazine Photography,
Photography,
Starting Out
