livebooks blog

Victor Koroma is based in Los Angeles and considers himself a mixed media photographer that thinks like a painter. His work aims to find the beauty in everyday recognizable objects. Transforming them beyond their banality into objects of desire that encourage you to think of them in new ways.

Mixed media photography. Contemporary pop. It blurs the boundary of what photography is by mixing it with other mediums. Utilizing elements of paintings, illustrations, and photography. He started hovering around the photo industry when Hearst Magazine International reached out to him with a request from Esquire Ru to published some photographs in print from one of his series on one of their issues. But overall, he would say that at times, he thinks he was genetically born with an eye for photography that skateboarding, art school, and working have helped him develop.

Q&A with Victor Koroma

Q: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

VK: Minimal. Organized. Clean.

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

VK: Though my eyes aggressively tend to comb over it weekly in attempt to spot any aspects I find annoying or irritating that I want to adjust there’s not a specific time frame I have. Apart from that I normally only make updates on either two occasions. One. I have brought a new series to fruition which i would like to share. Two. A new piece of information presents itself that needs to be either added or corrected in some fashion.

Q: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

VK: This was a head ache inducing issue I thought about for sometime actually. I approached the design of my homepage by placing myself in the perspective of the person viewing it. I asked myself, what images would entice a viewer to spend more time on my website? What images would best represent my work and communicate my overall vision? The images on my site currently answer those questions. Whenever I come across new images that are more of a representation of that vision, i replace them. In totality, the images on my homepage are a means to the end of alluring.

Q: What is your favorite feature of liveBooks8?

VK: I mostly enjoy the amount of control I have with the seemingly endless customization tools.

See more of Victor’s work: www.victorkphotography.com

Craig van der Lende has been a photographer since the early 70’s. He graduated with a business degree and got a camera from his parents for graduation. It took a year for him to realize he wouldn’t be happy working for someone else. In that year, he got valuable training in the computer industry and that started a life long interest in computers and tech.

His first photographic work was in journalism followed by studio product and people, followed by large format large set studio contract furniture followed by table top and food for national ads. The national ad work slowed down at the same time 9-11 happened and, for a time, Craig considered living off my investments.

That changed after he spent a couple weeks in Africa for an NGO documenting clean water projects and micro finance recipients. That trip made him realized that’s what made him the happiest – being a photographer. Craig decided to rebuild and rethink his career. Craig got back to his journalism days, added video and began choosing projects and clients based on the experience he would have and where the final project would take me next.

Today, he shoots a bit of everything – stills and video location and studio.

Q1: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

A1: Clean, functional and diverse.

Q2: How often do you typically update your website?

A2: I try to update at least once a month, sooner if I have a project I am excited to show.

Q3: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

A3: I show what I am most interested in shooting at the time. I have been showing a video on my home page that shows high tech manufacturing.

Q4: What is your favorite feature of liveBooks8?

A4: Video integration.

Q5: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

A5: Show what you want to shoot and what sets you apart from everyone else.

I appreciate the liveBooks SEO. I get most of my clients from web search and don’t reach out to people for new work often. My liveBooks site has brought in most of my new clients.

See more of Craig van der Lende’s work here: http://vanderlende.com

Tara O. became interested in photography around age ten, when she began setting up photo sessions of her younger sister in their bedroom, using a play 35mm camera, play clothes to dress her sister up and stuffed animals as props. She participated in elective photo classes in high school, where she fell in love with the dark room. Her passion continued as she pursued her degree in Fine Art at Arizona State University where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Photography in 2008.

As she ended her formal art education, she started to narrow in on portraiture exclusively, and simultaneously continued to fall into the niche world of retro styling. She has specialized in pinup portraits most of her ten year professional career.

Q1: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

TO: Babes, babes and – babes!

Q2: How often do you typically update your website?

TO: I update my website whenever I have a new image that I feel exemplifies my work really well, it’s so easy to add an image to my galleries whenever the feeling strikes me!

Q3: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

TO: It’s so hard to decide what to feature on the very front page of my site, but I picked a handful that I feel really shows the type of images I strive for with my clients. I love working with women of all shapes, sizes, colors and in varying levels of modesty.

Q4: What is your favorite feature of liveBooks8?

TO: I love the template designs for liveBooks. They are clean and crisp, which puts the attention on your images- which is important to me as a photographer. I want my photos to be what is the most prevalent and noticeable on my website, without extra frills distracting from my work.

Q5: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

TO: Reach out to colleagues or mentors to help you edit your images. Sometimes less is more and a well curated website is vital.

I’m so lucky to have been using liveBooks for several years. Adding and updating my website couldn’t be simpler and doesn’t take up time I need for so much of the other work that goes into being a photographer!

Check out more from Tara O. Photos: http://taraophotos.com/