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Archive for 2009

For Lisa Wiseman, a San Francisco-based editorial and commercial photographer, it’s important that her portfolio convey her “eye,” the way she sees, no matter what camera she’s using. That’s why, despite her initial hesitancy, she began showing personal work as part of her book and online portfolio last year. This year she was named one of PDN’s 30 — in part because of her “New Polaroids” personal project, taken entirely on her iPhone.

©Lisa Wiseman (2)

Name: Lisa Wiseman
Website:
lisawiseman.com
Age: 27
Location:
San Francisco
Full-time job:
Photographer

Personal project name and short description
The New Polaroid — This project is shot completely with my iPhone and is an exploration of iPhone as the new Polaroid. As the iPhone is becoming a ubiquitous and trendy accessory, on-the-go picture taking is now the norm. I see people using their iPhones to take spontaneous photos in the same carefree way that cheap Polaroid has been used in the past. In concept and ideology, the iPhone mimics Polaroid; however, it pushes the aesthetic forward by utilizing a new non-film (but technologically infantile) medium. Just like traditional Polaroids had a specific size and unique look, iPhone photos are unmistakable because the technology limits them to a fixed size and resolution and imbues them with a unique chromatic aberration that says “iPhone” and nothing else.

©Lisa Wiseman (2)

When and why did you start it?
I have been shooting with my iPhone since I got it approximately two years ago. I started showing The New Polaroid alongside my portraiture portfolios on my website and in my book in June, 2008, along with other personal work including a project shot on traditional Polaroid film. It was important to me to show my potential clients another side of my shooting personality — I wanted creatives to have a feel for what the world looks like to me and what I photograph when I’m not shooting portraits. With a wider breadth of work encompassing still lifes and interiors, I wanted to show that my vision carries through everything I shoot. Showing personal work has directly led to jobs, and when I show my work in person my work seems to resonate more with the viewer because it includes the iPhone images and traditional Polaroids.

©Lisa Wiseman (2)

Do you have a particular image you are especially drawn to so far? More »

Gene Higa is a destination wedding photographer based in San Francisco, but he’s got great tips for all kinds of photographers. In today’s Tip of the Week, Gene talks about the importance of diversifying your business, like his friend Ann Hamilton, who is a successful wedding AND dog portrait photographer.

“One of the things I do to keep myself balanced is I teach.”

Be Part of the RESOLUTION: Gene has some great tips lined up, but we’re always eager to hear what you’d like to know more about. Leave your questions in the comments (with a link to your website, of course) and Gene will be happy to respond.

A Photo Editor pointed us to some hopeful news about the future of the media industry. Maggwire.com is planning to charge readers a subscription fee to access a channel where they can get content from a large number of top magazines. On the other end of the spectrum, San Francisco-based McSweeney’s announced that they’re releasing a single-issue “21st-Century newspaper prototype” called San Francisco Panorama in December. It’s big and beautiful and nothing like a website — that’s the point.

The judge in the ongoing Google book settlement case ruled this week that photographers are not authors and therefore cannot be included as part of the settlement, according to TechCrunch. The motion to join the current settlement between Google and the Author’s Guild was brought earlier by ASMP, the Picture Archive Council of America, the Graphic Artists Guild, and several individual photographers.

Germany’s most popular women’s magazine, Brigette, confirmed with The Guardian that from 2010 on, it will be banning professional models from its pages and use only women with normal figures. Andreas Lebert, editor-in-chief of the magazine, said that he is tired of having to retouch pictures of underweight models to “fatten” them up. Conscientious has more on the story.

Last Wednesday, Toyota posted an apology on the Flickr forum admitting that they have been using pictures from Flickr without photographer permission. They have since removed the Flickr photos from their 4Runner website. PDN reported that Toyota USA’s ad agency, Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles, has reached out to at least one of the Flickr photographers involved.

You’ve probably noticed that the liveBooks RESOLVE blog has gotten a facelift. If you click through the rest of our site, you’ll see even bigger changes that are way beyond cosmetic.

Those of you who read RESOLVE regularly know that we rarely talk about liveBooks here. Our posts are designed to provide photo professional with the information and inspiration they need to run successful, fulfilling businesses. Today, liveBooks is doing just that — so we are excited to share our news with you here.

With the help of $5 million in funding, we are now making our websites available to all photo professionals and visually driven businesses for just $39 a month.

Our award-winning design team (that’s them above) has created a huge selection of pre-designed sites endowed with the same powerful search engine optimization and business management tools that have convinced industry leaders like Harry Benson and National Geographic to choose us as their website solution. With our new flexible pricing and subscription offering, these solutions are available immediately without a big up-front investment.

Of course, we’re still offering the custom-designed websites that we’re known for, and we’re continuing to serve our customers’ expanding business needs by working in innovative ways with our long list of partners.

Here at RESOLVE, you’ll continue to find helpful business advice, important industry news, inspiring new work, and a renewed focus on the innovators who are forging the path through this new media wilderness. As always, we welcome your input about how RESOLVE can serve you better and look forward to hearing from you soon.

~Miki Johnson
Editor, RESOLVE Blog

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