Spring Roundup

Welcome to the Spring Round Up. This is a chance to look back at the posts from the last three months and catch up on any posts you might have missed.  You can also check out the previous round ups for Spring 2013, Summer 2013, Fall 2013, and Winter 2013-2014.

Consider joining in the Boost Your Photography: 52 Weeks Challenge! Our focus for May was on photography basics. In June we will be looking at different composition techniques. Join the Google+ Community to share your weekly photographs and receive feedback.

For Beginners

This is a collection of posts geared towards beginners or those who want to learn to do more with their camera. Many of the 'Tips and Tricks' and 'Inspired Ideas' posts will also be applicable. You can find other posts geared toward Beginners here or in the tab up top.

Shutter Speed: an overview	Teaching Kids Photography	What the ... White Balance?
BYP 52 Weeks Challenge	Focus on Focus	Deciding Just Where to Focus: Focus Points
Explaining Exposure and Exposure Compensation	Shutter Speed Guidelines	Creative Ideas Using Shutter Speed

Tips and Tricks

Advice for getting the most out of your camera and your photography. You can find more Tips and Tricks posts here or in the tab up top.

Tips to Improve Your Macro Photography	Product Review: Close-Up Lenses	Macro Fakery: Background Creation
Product Review: Light Tent Kit	Focus Stacking for Macro Photography	Tell a Story with Easter Photographs
5 Food Photography Articles	GorillaPod Tripod Review	Photographing Architecture Watch Your Lines
Top Tips for Camera Memory and Storage	GorillaPod Tripod Review

Inspired Ideas

This is a collection of posts containing ideas, both those that you can implement immediately and those that require a little more time, effort, and potential planning. You can find more Inspired Ideas here or in the tab up top.

Make the Shot: Water on CDs	Make the Shot: Droplet Refraction	Master the Heart-Shaped Shadow
Capture a Day in a Single Image	Better Before/ After Photographs	Flipped Reflections

Guest Posts

During the winter, I became a regular contributor to Digital Photography School. These are my posts that were published over on their site in the last few months.

How to Use a Light Tent for Product Photography

Light Tent Comparison: DIY vs. Kit

Travel Photography without the Travel

Stay Connected

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One Year Blogoversary Deal!

Today marks a full year since the official launch of Boost Your Photography (originally Archaeofrog Photography). One year and one hundred ten posts later, there is a lot to celebrate!

It has been so much fun sharing this journey with you and helping so many people to grow in their creativity and skill set as photographers. To keep the growth and celebration going, starting today there is a very special Kindle Countdown Deal on my photography eBook, Boost Your Photography: Learn Your DSLR!

Starting from right now and lasting 48 hours, you can get your own copy of Boost Your Photography: Learn Your DSLR for better than half off, or only $1.99. Still not sure? If you wait too long, the price will jump to $2.99 for another 24 hours before settling back in at the original (and still an amazing value) price of $4.99. (Click the cover or links above to see how much time is left in the deal. This deal above is only available through Amazon.com. Click here to see the Amazon.co.uk version of the deal - same timing, great savings!)

For about the cost of a pack of gum, you can have over 120 pages of step-by-step photography advice to get you out and shooting with your DSLR camera. Best of all, the Kindle eBook format means that it is portable and accessible from anywhere, including your computer, tablet, or cell phone.

Here are a few thoughts from reviewers of Boost Your Photography: Learn Your DSLR:

"I just read your take on camera zero - thank you for making it so easy to follow and understand!"

"With her background as an educator and academic, Katie clearly and expertly explains the basics of using a DSLR camera. She gives concrete examples her readers can put into practice immediately. It gives readers a solid foundation to move beyond Auto mode to get the best results straight out of their cameras without investing a fortune in additional equipment and software."

"It’s consistently practical, with explanations that are accessible for a novice like me. There's also a nice balance between technical explanations and creative exercises. Because it’s an ebook, I always have it with me, which is crucial for a photography book because you never know when and where you might need it. I bought a similar print book at one point, for about 5 times as much, and it basically just sits on the shelf. This is definitely the way to go."

Thank you all so much for being an active part of Boost Your Photography! Excited to celebrate this first year blogoversary and looking forward to many more to come.

Have a topic you would like to see covered on  Boost Your Photography? Leave a comment on this post or ask a question.

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Favorite Photography Books and Authors: part 2

This is the second in my two-part series about some of my favorite photography authors. The first part focused on authors who focus on broader ideas about photography, composition, and art. This post will explore authors who explain more of the technical side of photography.

Bryan Peterson

Exposure is a complicated topic, and the several posts on this site about exposure have only begun to scratch the surface (All about Exposure and How to Fix Common Exposure Problems). Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure, now in its third edition, is a classic photography book. It is a combination of a technical 'how to' book about exposure and how to create the photographs that you want along with an inspiring collection of images and ideas that will inspire you and your photography.

Peterson breaks apart the different components of exposure and includes majors sections on aperture, shutter speed, and light. There is also a final section on filters and other more involved techniques and accessories. His clear explanations and simple directions will help clarify this difficult and oft-confusing topic.

Bryan Peterson also has a series of videos and articles sponsored by Adorama. His "You Keep Shooting" series is full of ideas and inspiration for specific types of styles and shots. If you are looking to learn a specific technique or need a new idea, this is a great resource.

Scott Kelby

Scott Kelby is a well-known photographer and author of many photography and Photoshop books. He also has a blog at scottkelby.com. His Digital Photography series, now at four books, covers common photography subjects and situations, and it is an excellent 'how to' series.

Kelby demystifies photography with sections like "Pro Tips for Getting Really Sharp Photos" or "Shooting Weddings like a Pro." Each book ends with what Kelby calls "Photo Recipes," which are the specific settings or techniques needed to take a photograph similar to his example. I found this section in particular helpful when I was first starting out, as his 'behind the scenes' insights make these types of shots feasible and attainable. The books are also written with a unique sense of humor, including section introductions that are humorous, off-kilter, and generally unrelated to anything within. Certainly an alternative to the dry, sleep-inducing tones of some instructional books.

Kelby is also a well-known Photoshop expert and offers workshops, books, and advice about using Photoshop for photography. For those of you interested in post-processing, you may find his resources helpful. He has written a series specific to each new version of Photoshop, so you can find a book tailored to exactly the software that you are using.

Summary

If you are looking for some photography reading this holiday season, you cannot go wrong with books by Michael Freeman, Freeman Patterson, Bryan Peterson, or Scott Kelby. Each can help you improve and boost your photography, whether it is through inspiration or compositional advice, specific instruction in a new technique or strategy, or help with your post-processing.

Do you have a favorite author I overlooked? Share your thoughts or links in the comments below.

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Boost Your Photography: Learn Your DSLR is now available from Amazon. Get the most out of your camera with practical advice about the technical and creative aspects of DSLR photography that will have you taking beautiful pictures right away.

Favorite Photography Books and Authors: part 1

I love reading photography books and blogs, and I found that there are certain authors I return to again and again. This post is a two-part series about some of my favorite photography authors and the books all aspiring photographs should read: first, authors who push you beyond with bigger ideas about photography, composition, and art, and second, on authors who explain the details and technical sides of photography.

Michael Freeman

Michael Freeman is an amazing photographer and teacher. He has thought so hard and so deeply about photography, that his insights constantly challenge me in the ways that I think about and approach photography.

The first book of his that I owned was The Photographer's Eye: Field Guide (the essential handbook for traveling with your digital SLR camera). It is tiny, compact, and bursting will useful tips and advice. There are plenty of practical considerations about cameras and travel, but the most valuable sections for me have been the last three: Appreciating Light, Subjects, and Themes. What caught my attention when first reading was how interrelated these three categories were but how useful it was to consider each separately.

Only later did I realize that this book was a much smaller version of his masterpiece, The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photographs. This book has been recently updated with a 'graphic guide' version this past year.

What I appreciate in particular about Freeman's work is the amount of explanation and analysis that go into his understand of photography and composition. He can break down and interpret a photograph in ways that allow anyone to understand what he is seeing and what makes that photograph powerful. He continually challenges me to push myself further and to be more deliberate and thoughtful in my photography and composition. I think he has lessons for photographers of all levels and especially for those who might need a new push or inspiration in their work.

Freeman Patterson

I found out about the work of Freeman Patterson through a reflection on him by David DuChemin on his web site, davidduchemin.com. (I highly recommend subscribing to his blog posts as well. Craft & Vision has an ever-expanding line of photography books, eBooks, and magazines, some of which are available to download for free.)

Patterson's book, Photography and the Art of Seeing, was the text chosen for our first ever Photography Book Club, hosted jointly through this blog and on the web site 365Project.org. For the month of August 2013 a group of about thirty photographers spent the month working through four week-long challenges, based on the readings, photographs, and exercises found in this book.

Photography and the Art of Seeing focuses on the importance of observation, imagination, and expression in photography. Patterson integrates activities and advice into the different sections, to encourage you to go out and apply the ideas in the book directly to your own photography. He also ends each section with a selection of photographs to demonstrate how he puts his own ideas into practice. Those of us who participated in the Book Club all felt that this was a book that could stretch any photographer and inspired us to see and try new things in our photography. A great book if you are looking to be inspired to see in a new way.

You can read more about the Photography Book Club here:

• Introduction to the August Photography Book Club 
• August Photography Book Club: week 1 
• Reflections on Week 1 
• August Photography Book Club: week 2 
• August Photography Book Club: week 3
• August Photography Book Club: week 4 

The next post in this series will cover authors that do a great job of explaining more about the technical sides of photography.

What about you? Do you have a favorite photography author or book? Feel free to share in the comments below.

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Boost Your Photography: Learn Your DSLR is now available from Amazon. Get the most out of your camera with practical advice about the technical and creative aspects of DSLR photography that will have you taking beautiful pictures right away.