My foray into the use of lighting equipment is stoking my creative fire, and I want to share some of my hot, hot photography tips.

1) Unlike other strobe manufacturers, Profoto's gear produces consistent color temperatures when I toggle between different intensity levels of strobe flash. This is fantastic when shooting and even better in post-production.

2) Strobes, like any continuous light source, correspond to changes in aperture settings. For example, if you increase your aperture from f/5.6 to f/11, you must increase your strobe output by two stops to maintain a consistent exposure.

3) When working in direct sunlight or nearly dark sets, choose a 1000 w/s strobe over a 500 w/s. You will relish in the extra power.

4) If a strobe is too powerful at its lowest setting, you can further decrease its needed strength by using neutral-density gels.

What's your fancy? Any hot, hot lighting-technology tips that you'd like to share? Fire us up with your advice! I look forward to hearing from you.

This photo was taken at Burning Man in 2008. I have attended for five years now, and throughout the week-long arts-and-culture festival in the Black Rock Desert, I wade among the 50,000+ people in attendance, searching for interesting faces. I stumbled upon this girl by chance, compelled by the sense of kinetic energy in her body position. I felt as if she were about to dash off into the vast expanse of the desert. The early morning light only energized the visual moment--the light provided a sense of both time and place, resulting in psychological motion.

Tofurious is the brainchild of wedding marketing consultant Lawrence Chan, an irreverent social-media innovator at the forefront of this field. As a longtime friend and peer, Lawrence generously invited me--along with other photographers, such as Dane Sanders, Bianchi Sisters, Joe Buissink, Jason Groupp, and founder of Thirst Relief Jim Davis-Hicks--to participate in a state-of-the-industry conference in Los Angeles today and tomorrow (August 4-5).

Dismayed by what he calls the "tactical slaughter of one other through slashing of prices, leading to an eventual degradation of the industry....all while the middle-tier is being risk averse," Lawrence is partnering with Jeff Jochum to form Startup Strategy. Startup Strategy focuses on aspiring professional photographers who lack experience and veteran photographers who might have lost clarity through the years.

At today and tomorrow's conference, speakers and discussion will revolve around how newbie photographers can distinctively set themselves apart and uniquely market themselves, and how experienced photographers can turbo-charge their existing business and find clarity again.

I return from LA next week and look forward to some of the pointers I picked up with you! Stay tuned...

I'm an avid devotee of NPR's "The Picture Show," an online catalog of photographs from around the world, accompanied by smart, insightful stories that contextualize the images within larger patterns of history and social science.

Recently, my friend and fellow photographer Grant Kaye directed me to a similar, recurring The New York Times Online feature called "Lens," a series that focuses on the world's finest photography, video, and visual journalism. Specifically, he sent me a link to a Q&A with 61-year-old photographer Stanley Green, who is the founder of a photography foundation in Amsterdam and winner of the 2003 W. Eugene Smith Grant.

I was moved by Mr. Greene's depth and complexity of character and would like to share his words with you. Below, you can read a repost of "Stanley Greene's Redemption & Revenge," originally published at this link in The New York Times.

Stanley Greene's Redemption and Revenge

By MICHAEL KAMBER

Since getting my feet wet with manual camera settings, I've honed-in on some tried-and-true methods for making the most of my new-found manual mania.

1) 5d Mark II Works for Me (Unless It Doesn't)
Perfect as it is, the 5d Mark II shutter drags across the capture sensor when you set the shutter speed at 1/180th of a second and faster--resulting in only a partially lit frame. Conversely, the 1DS series offers an iris-leaf shutter that captures completely lit images at any shutter speed.

2) Sharp Shooter
If you're a quick shooter, it's best to invest in a high capacity strobe like a Profoto 1,000 w/s monolight. Not only does it offer the obvious advantage of more power, it also recycles much faster if you don't have your strobe set on the highest possible power setting.

3) Saucy Strobe
Because a strobe emits all of its light in a single burst, whether the shutter speed is fast or slow doesn't matter. The amount of light that the capture sensor receives from the strobe remains constant regardless of the camera's shutter speed. The desired light level from the strobe will still be retained. For instance, when shooting with strobe in a moody environment, drag the shutter to preserve the low-level, environmental ambient light. The strobe will expose your subject and the longer shutter speed with capture the ambient-lit background.

One of the many highlights from my Spyder3 monitor calibration video tutorial. See below.

Lori Nordstrom is an amazing educator, print judge and quite the photogra-momma! Here, she shares with us some of her expertise as well as encouragement!

Print competition can be a bit scary the first time.  Well, let's face it... it's scary every time!  While we put our emotions, and at times our self-worth on the line for the judges, after competing a few times you'll find it addicting!  Print competition will move you forward as a photographer and artist.  Each time you perfect a print and then open it up for critique, you will learn and grow.  Print competition and critique is a learning experience in itself.  I highly recommend attending a print competition, listening to the judges and learning.

There are many competitions out there, and one of the most "competed" and researched photographers I know is Catherine Hall  http://www.catherinehall.net/weddings/index.html.  Catherine has competed in most print competitions out there and has even published a book on competitions, schedules, rules, etc.

For this discussion we will focus on PPA's (Professional Photographers of America) print competition.  Through PPA you will compete first on the state level, next regionals and then on to nationals.  Each level propels to the next.  At the state level you compete not only to learn and grow but for state awards.  It's recommended that the prints that do well move on, and that you take critique and recommendations to perfect prints or try new ones at the regional level.  Each time you enter be sure to "fill your case".  Many state competitions allow more than the traditional four prints so that 6-8 can be judged and critiqued.  Take advantage of this if it's an option.  Four prints are allowed at the regional and national level.  Don't send less than four!   I made this mistake my first year of competition and only entered two prints.  I didn't know any better!

PPA has given us 12 elements of a "merit" print.  These are prints that are considered above average and worthy of a merit (prints that score 80 or above). As a judge we are to start at 100 (as a score) and then take points off for "issues".  We are also taught in "judges school" to really examine and look closely at images for flaws.  It's a judges responsibility to be able to communicate the problems as well as the positives.  Be sure to take anything the judges bring up and remember those things when you are in similar circumstances.  I can think of many things I've heard in print comp, even when it's not my image!  I think about those things when I'm out shooting and make sure to pay close attention to them.  You will move forward and your client will benefit from all that you learn through print competition.

The 12 elements of a "merit print" as defined by PPA's Photographic Exhibitions Committee (PEC) are as follows:

• Impact
• Creativity
• Technical excellence
• Composition
• Lighting
• Style
• Print Presentation
• Center of Interest
• Subject Matter
• Color Balance
• Technique
• Story Telling

A successful print must have each of these elements and they are listed according to importance.  Good luck in your print competitions and be sure to go through this check list before entering! It's also really helpful to send prints to someone who is a Master Photographer, or a PEC judge for critique before entering.  Take suggestions and make changes where you can, and overall, believe in what you love and feel passionate about!

Lori sweetly answers a few questions about Print Competition:

When you enter print competition each year, how do you decide which images to enter? What advice can you offer to those who may be entering for the first time and don't know where to start? The very best thing you can do is to find a mentor.  Someone who is a master photographer and has earned their stripes that you can email your images over to and ask for honest critique.  Don't enter something that's too personal.  Don't enter your kids (in most circumstances!).  Start with images that you feel are technically strong and work on them to make them stronger.  Look for the little details that can make a huge difference before the judges.

I know you often enter albums for competition. Why have you chosen to go this route over individual images? Do you think it is easier or harder to do this? Most would say it's harder to enter an album because it represents a body of work and not just one image that you can work on to make amazing.  I feel that my work, and what I do, tells a story.  So, to me an album makes perfect sense.  When entering albums, be sure that lighting and color is consistent.  There should be several images that can stand alone.  In other words, in the end of it, a judge will look back and say how many of these images would be merits on their own, and how well does it all flow and fit together.  The same elements of a merit print stand in an album, but when working this way you have to pay even closer attention to the story and emotion.

I know photographers are a little split on this topic. Some photograph specifically for competition images. Others feel you should enter what you photograph from day to day. Do you have a particular opinion on this? I think there are benefits to both.  I personally have never photographed for competition.  It doesn't mean that I never will!  In the past however, I've looked for images that I love and then worked to perfect them.
I like the idea of shooting for competition because it pushes you as you look for all of the elements.  I love having digital as a tool.  Shooting, checking it out and then perfecting as you go.  I think this is a great way to learn and grow as a photographer.

What did you do the first time one of your images won an award? My first competition was a result of sending an image for a client to have printed by Lou Zoke.  I met Lou at a week-long workshop and saw some of his black and white printing (film at the time!). I was so impressed that I sent him a few pieces to try out his work.  Lou called me after receiving one of the prints and recommended that I enter it in print competition.  I had no idea what that was or what it meant, but I decided to go for it!  I only entered one print (not knowing any better) and ended up winning several awards with it.  I really didn't understand the process or what any of it meant.  If I won the awards today that I won then, I would be jumping up and down and squealing! lol  I definitely was hit with the bug at that competition and began entering a "full case" after that.  By entering at each level (state, regional and then on to national) I was able to earn my Masters degree very quickly.

Any advice to photographers who may have a rough go the first time in competition? How do you suggest they go about dusting themselves off and going at it again? Every experience is a learning experience.  I've had competitions where I haven't done well.  I remember one in particular where I sat in the back of print judging and cried.  I can remember having the feeling that day that I wasn't any good and wanted to quit!  Another photographer talked to me that day and reminded me that while print competition pushes and challenges you, it's not what pays the bills. Always try to learn something from the judges and their comments.

*This story originally appeared on NPR.org at http://tinyurl.com/28gkamu
Photography can do powerful things. Deborah Luster, for example, tells a story of how one of her photographs reunited a family: A mother, who had spent 15 years in a Louisiana prison without seeing her children, requested that Luster take her portrait -- thinking that if she sent the image to her children, it might "soften their hearts." It did. A few months later, when Luster followed up, four of the woman's children had come to see her.

Photography has done powerful things for Luster, too. In 1988, her mother was murdered by a contract killer. And as a way of coping, Luster found herself looking through the lens. Exactly one decade after her mother's death, Luster was commissioned to photograph the poor parishes of northeast Louisiana, to strengthen the region's application for federal grant money.

Wandering around, she noticed two things: there were a lot of prisons, and few people. She figured the people must be in those prisons. And so began her portrait series. Using an old-fashioned silver plate technique to emulate timelessness, she has captured thousands of inmates. Luster doesn't ask much, doesn't need to know the details of their stories. She just wants to show the outside world who these inmates are -- as they themselves want to be seen.

Her project, titled One Big Self, comes from Terrence Malick's film, The Thin Red Line. As the dialogue goes, "Maybe all men got one big soul where everybody's a part of -- all faces of the same man: one big self." It's pretty remarkable that Luster has emerged from tragedy with such a humanitarian world view. At the end of the day, she's trying to show that although inmates may have made some big mistakes, they are people, too. That's the power of a photograph.