Drunken grandmas and the Aurora Borealis

Photography News that's Fit to Blog (This Week)
by Kerry Raminiak

Howdy from beautiful Austin, Texas where we have about one more week before the weather is completely unbearable. With that nonessential aside, we found a lot of interesting goodies regarding or from the photography industry that was a little more amusing than usual to put together.

Off the bat we wanted to mention David LaChapelle’s latest collection called “The Americans.” Is it possible that this photog superstar can get even more subversive? And I know that this work, albeit beautifully odd and interesting, is not at all dirty, it still has a dirty vibe to it. Is it the picture of the drunk grandmas? I’m sure I am the last person to blog about him and with very little to contribute but I still post it with warning that it is barely NSFW but in a perfectly planned, LaChapellian way. To follow up, we send you to this February interview with him where he gets very personal while talking about his books and meeting Andy Warhol. The pictures here are more NSFW, btw, but still interesting and provocative.


Here are some pretty darn helpul tutorials that were buzzed about on Twitter and Facebook last week, both via DPS:
* How to photograph silhouettes
* How to start a photography group in your area

My photography pix of this week are more Hubble photography that are getting great reviews. These are shots of the Aurora Borealis and, its counterpart, the Aurora Australis from space.

And our industry article for this week is this one from PPA (registration is required, but it is free) called The Elephant in the Room about how to retain and get new clients during a tough economy. Here is a snippet: “We would all like to ignore the elephant in the room, but the economy—though seeming to improve slightly—is still a major factor to consider. If you can appeal to your client during these price-sensitive times, they will appreciate you recognizing their needs (and your referrals can only grow). Being prepared, evaluating your pricing, getting creative, and (above all) adding intrinsic value to your services are ideas that may help draw clients today.”


And, finally, three announcements from ExpressDigital.

First, a new update to DARKROOM version 8.9 is now live and free for anyone with a current edition. It has earned some great reviews as the “cleanest and most compatible” version of the software to date and you should go and get it.

Second, we are 18 hours away from publishing the June issue of our newsletter featuring an interview with Viva Las Vegas, a prolific PhotoReflect user that has recently published their 5,000th online event. Sign up and get it (among many more cool features) delivered.

Third, an advanced PhotoReflect user webinar has been planned for this week. Join our webinar master and PhotoReflect expert as they take your online storefront to the next level, Friday, June 12 at 3:00pm Central. Sign up and more information can be found here.