Ikea products have never looked so good. Carl Kleiner teamed up with stylist Evelina Bratell to photography Ikea kitchenware for Ikea’s first cookbook. The products are very well arangged and photographed beautifully. Supposedly this cook book will be filled with beautiful photos of ingredents and kitchenware.

(via Co.Design)

Photograph by Jeff Johnson

You remember those photographs that remain etched in your mind and leave you wondering how can you create such an image?

The usual thought is, what you need to add to your work, what fancy tricks do you need to learn?

Look through your favorite photographer’s work and you’ll find the power is in what they didn’t put in the frame or image. Yes, it’s what you don’t see thats is often the secret sauce.

Here’s something I ran across yesterday in The Five C’s of CINEMATOGRAPHY,  a classic book by Joseph V. Mascelli (it’s loaded with great tips for still photographers too, I recommend that you add it to your library.)

“The secret of good composition can be explained in one word: simplicity. A complicated or cluttered composition, even though it obeys all rules of good composition, will not be as effective as a simple one. Simplicity does not imply starkness. A simple composition is economical in use of line, form, mass and movement; includes only one center of interest; has unified style which harmoniously integrates camera angles lighting, tonal and color values.

“The test of good composition is whether anything can can be removed from the picture without destroying its effectiveness. Any element in the frame not required for story-telling purpose, attracts unwarranted audience attention. Such distracting pictorial elements may steal the scene from principal subject matter. A simple composition is immediately recognizable and readily assimilated by the audience. The viewer should not have to search the framed area to discover the shot’s meaning. This is most important in motion pictures, which are series of individual scenes. A person may study a still photograph until he is satisfied that he comprehends it. A movie scene appears for a limited time, and is then removed. Confusing or puzzling compositions irritate the viewer, and may cause him to lose interest.

“Simplicity does not depend on the number of scenic elements; or the area included in the picture. A table-top shot depicting half a dozen objects may present a cluttered composition; while an extreme long shot of an advancing army may convey a unity of force and power immediately recognizable, because of its simplicity. If a vast number of compositional elements must be photographed, they should be harmoniously grouped.”

I’d love to see examples of how you have or can apply this to your photography, and how you’ve been able to make it work for you, put your image in our Photo critique group and let us have a look.

Nick Veasey, is an X-Ray photographer who created this awesome image of a Nikon photographer for the cover of the Focus of Imaging 2010 catalog cover. It took 12 images to make this shot but it seems to have turned out pretty well. Take a look at the behind the scenes video for more details. For those of you wondering. The camera was a Nikon D3x.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NkEE37oLeQ

Apparently it’s possible to make 1 music video with 288,000 jelly beans.

“In Your Arms” by Kina Grannis is a perfect example of hard work and dedication. It was filmed over a period of 22 months, which took 1,357 hours and 30 people to create.

Each frame was made with a jelly bean background on a glass table. The jelly beans were under the glass and Kina was photographed on top of the glass for every frame. Take a look at the video and then watch the behind the scenes video below to see true hard work and dedication. It’s amazing how much work was put into the video even before the filming began.

Almost 2 years of work for a 3 minute video. Pretty ridiculous right?

This time-lapse video by Dustin Farrell is one of the best one’s that we’ve seen.

It was all shot, not filmed with a Canon 5D Mark II in Arizona and Utah. At some points in the video, it doesn’t even look like earth!

If you’ve seen a better time-lapse video be sure to let us know!

Bob Dylan, a radical in his time for going electric.   All rights reserved by beastandbean

It takes courage to be great, to break away from the crowd and develop your own voice and put yourself out there.

If you’re doing what’s safe and  what everyone else is, you may get a lot of “likes” and “favs,” but at the end of day are you making photographs that you love?

With our AYP Club, what I really love is to see those of you who have the courage to put your work out there and ask for critiques; that’s a good first step.

I made a pass through last night and left some comments. My basic feedback is this: Courage.

Don’t stop at the easy, the good photo that might even win a local contest. Push yourself!  Have the courage to find YOUR VOICE as a photographer.

Go beyond what has been easy for you and explore your limits. In most cases this means being able to really engage your subject. But it might mean getting up at 5AM to get the best light. Or taking your camera to a rough part of town.

It’s about pushing your limits, learning what you can do and see, and help others feel what you felt.

Let’s look at an artist in another art form–Bob Dylan. He broke away from acoustic folk music, the convention at the time. He turned his music “on its head” and came out at the Newport Folk festival with his electric band and was booed at— that’s right. It’s hard to believe that an electric guitar was considered so radical, that it would shake up the status quo of what’s good music, but he did. He went on to tour the UK, again to boos, but he had the courage to push through.

Guess what, a year or two later, those same booers were buying records of the ”cutting edge” rockers. Then a few years later Dylan did it again by going back to acoustic, recording a counrty-flavored album with Jonny Cash.

Nobody could quite figure him out. He didn’t care about being successful, he just wanted to create his music and  put it out there.

Ansel Adams got flack for “manipulating images” – what the hell he said, of course I am, do you see the world as a two dimensional black and white rectangle, with a black sky?

I could go on and on giving you example after example of those artists who were willing to turn their craft on its head. You can think of your own heros who did so.

So how about you? Are you putting out photos that are “safe,” in your comfort zone? Or for that matter, are you afraid of even putting your work out there for fear of criticism?

Honestly, I don’t care if  our AYP Club is the biggest or the smallest. If we can help make a few more really great photographers, we’ll have accomplished our mission.

Push yourself. If you back away from shooting portraits of strangers on the street, make yourself do it. If the idea of shooting nudes makes you squirm, find someone who will pose and shoot them, in the raw.

Name out to yourself one area of photography you back away from and then make yourself shoot it.

This is our assignment for this week’s Photo Dojo.  BTW, there are way more members of the Dojo than are participating. Photography is not a spectator sport! Decide if you’re there to make photographs that you love or you’re an on-looker— and if so go to a museum and look!

I believe in you and that YOU can do it. Let me see what you’ve got.

We recently published an episode of the Marc Silber Show with photographer Jeff Johnson. If you haven’t had the chance to take a look at this episode yet, make sure to do so right here.

We are working on adding a lot of brand new content to the site to build up our Advancing Your Photography Club (also known as the AYP Club). One perk of being a member of the AYP Club is extended versions of video interviews with top photographers. Members can go to the AYP Club site right now and check out the full version of the interview with Jeff which is chalk full of even more tips and cool information for photographers.

Here is a small collection of photos from Jeff Johnson. These and so many more can be found on his website.

All photographs © Jeff Johnson 2011. All Rights Reserved

An “expecting shoot” is an amazing way for the soon-to-be mother to take in all her pregnancy glory. Those nine months, which can grow tiring while in the midst of them, are a beautiful time in a women’s life and something that should be documented as part of her journey to motherhood. These shoots are increasing in popularity and becoming a must-have for mothers out there.

There are really no rules to these shoots and playing around with different props, locations and themes can be a lot of fun. The shoot below, for example took place with a venice style to it. What started as a simple execting shoot turned into pure art.

If you are a mother-to-be, I would strongly suggest booking one of these for yourself. If you are a photographer and are interested in venturing to this field of photography, check out Lena Hyde on the Marc Silber Show where she gives great tips for taking photos of children. Or take a look at the episode with Amy Deputy where she talks about taking unique photos.

All of these amazing photographers were taken by Amelia Lyon.

I am sure a wedding photographer has more precise tips and tricks as to what makes a good wedding photo a great wedding photo, but as a bride and someone who reviews and publishes wedding photos daily, there are a few things I have found that some photographers have down to a T, while others need a bit of work.

Source: Jason + Anna Photography

It is all about style. Creating a style all your own is what will set you apart from other photographers. What can you offer brides that will be different from any other photographer. Maybe it is the way you play with light, use colors, the angles you love to shoot from, or the artistic way you position your subject. Either way, creating a style and building from that will not only set you apart from others in the industry, but will create a totally different approach to how you see and take photographs.The artistic eye and interesting photos create interest and inspiration.

Source: Simply Bloom Photography

Wedding photography isn’t just several hours of photo taking while following a shot list. Instead, think about wedding photography as a journalistic view of the day, capturing those small details and candid looks throughout the day. Though some posed photos are needed, posed wedding photos create good photos, not great photos. Think about what effect you want to create by taking the photograph? It could be anything from laughter to tears, but invoking that emotion through your photographs will make your photos great.

Source: D. Park Photography

Lighting is another extremely important part of wedding photography. Using light to create color, romance or ambiance can make a photo instantly turn from good to great. This is probably the most important thing to learn in terms of wedding photography as this something that can change the entire outlook and emotional response of the photo.

Source: Simply Bloom Photography

Don’t forget about the details. The smallest details are the thing that make this wedding special and unique so don’t forget to capture these in a fun and informal way. These photos definitely help tell the story of the day and often times turn into a truly artistic photo.

For tips from a wedding photographer check out this episode of The Marc Silber Show featuring Bambi Cantrell.

Last night watching the Kennedy Center Honors with the final honoree being Paul McCartney, I couldn’t help but remember all those images that coincide with the soundtrack of my life that was generated by him and his pals.

Do you remember Joe Holmes telling me the major inspiration for his photography was born out  of the Beatles’ last concert  in San Francisco at Candlestick park?  I must say this really surprised me: I expected him to tell me it was some sort of fairly conservative element. Instead he said it was the sheer raw enthusiasm that was being generated by the Beatles, plus the over the top frenzy of the moment. He said that even he started screaming at the top of his lungs. Beatle-mania propelled him to find that same ignition of creativity in his own art.

You probably know that Ansel Adams was on a career path to be a concert pianist. Then one summer he discovered photography in Yosemite which for him ignited a creative sunburst. He finally had to make the choice between photography and music as his chosen profession, as he put it, you can’t serve two mistresses. He transposed the discipline he had found in his studies of classical music to photography, which is why you see in his work such precision. Over and over he drew from the wellspring of his musical roots—even saying that the negative was the “score” and the print the “performance.”

You find so many photographers whose roots go back to music in some way that we’re going to make it a component in mastering photography with our AYP Club.

How about Annie Leibovitz for example? Remember she got her start shooting for RollingStone, the first mag centered around modern music. She talks about the importance of a music as a key element in her shoots to set the mood she’s looking for or or simply to keep the set in the groove.

We’re going to talk about this some more, but I’d love to hear your connection to music and how it’s influenced your work. Or am I going off into into BS-land where the twain never shall meet?