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Award-winning photographer Andre Baranowski’s work has been featured on the covers of national and international publications such as Saveur, Departures, Garden Design, Better Homes & Gardens, Shape, Men’s Health, and many more. We were so impressed with his clean and easy-to-navigate website design that we just had to feature his website this week!

Check out what he had to say below and then head on over to www.andrebaranowskiphoto.com to see more of his amazing pictures!

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

AB: Simplicity, Beauty, Authenticity.

Andre Baranowski for Tiffany, New York.

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

AB: I think a photographer is as good as his last job. I try to publish on my website the best work I have done and at the same time try to get more work just like that.

Q: How often do you update your website?

AB: As soon as I create something I am very pleased with, and have a good response from my clients, I update my website.

Andre Baranowski for Standard Hotel Miami.

Q: What is your favorite feature that liveBooks offers?

AB: Simplicity and speed of interaction with liveBooks as well as the choice of aesthetics.

Andre Baranowski for Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

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

AB: We live in a busy and complicated world saturated with irrelevant information. Make it beautiful, simple, and fast.

Have a website you’d like us to feature? Email us at social@livebooks.com!

In today’s world we are rarely ever found without our cell phones within arm’s reach. It seems our devices have become an extension of ourselves in every possible way – relying on them for even the most basic of functions. While many things we do on our phones can be frivolous and unnecessary, there are actually a lot of ways in which they enhance and make our lives easier. We’ve compiled a list of must-have apps specifically for photographers – to make your lives easier and your businesses run smoother.

The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE)

The Photographer’s Ephemeris is incredibly valuable for natural light shooters and landscape photographers. The app uses your current location ( or prospective shooting spot) to tell you the heading and angle of the moon, the hours of twilight, the size of shadows, upcoming celestial events, golden hour times, and more. This app also has a “visual search” feature which will tell you the exact date and time the sun and moon will be in a specific location in the sky for a given shooting spot.

$8.99 – iOS

$4.99 – Google Play

Easy Release

If you’re a street photographer or work with a lot of models, Easy Release is the perfect on-the-go app for you. With Easy Release, you can set up a custom release form (or multiple ones for different situations, depending on the type of work you do) that can be signed using a finger. This will instantly generate a PDF document that you can email to everyone that require a copy of the release. Bonus: major image houses like Getty and iStockPhoto approve of its use. However, we always encourage you to consult a lawyer on any legal matter to make sure your releases and contracts are legally binding.

$9.99 – iOS

$9.99 – Google Play

Instagram

We know, we know. Instagram isn’t necessarily an app just for photographers. However, we think it’s important and beneficial enough for your photography business that we had to include it here. Instagram is a way to showcase your amazing photography with the world – literally. Utilizing hashtags correctly can result in thousands of new followers and tons of engagement with your work – which can all lead to increased business and name recognition. Plus, by following other photographers or hashtags that are interesting or relevant to your business, you could learn new things, become inspired to try a new type of shot, and even network with people around the world. We could go on and on about the importance of this app, especially for newer photographers looking to establish themselves, but we urge you to check it out for yourself. Already have an Instagram account? Follow ours – @liveBookswebsites – so we can follow you back and #regram your best pics!

Free – iOS

Free – Google Play

iWatermark

With the increase in photo sharing on social media, there is a higher risk that someone might be able to steal your work. However, we believe that the benefits of sharing on social media gar outweigh the potential risks, and with apps like iWatermark you can further protect yourself. This app gives you the ability to add your logo to images before you post them. You can either water with text or imagery (like your logo) and save the photo back to your camera roll or share it directly to social media from the app.

$1.99 – iOS

$1.99 – Google Play

Photographer’s Tools

Photographer’s Tools provides easy access to some of photography’s most commonly used properties. This app includes a depth of field calculator, sunrise/sunset and moonrise/moonset times, twilight, blue, and holden hour windows, plus an ND filter calculator for determining how much to compensate an exposure. We also really love the clean, uncluttered format that the app presents everything so that you can quickly access what you need and get back to what you really want to be doing: shooting.

Free – iOS

Free – Google Play

Wireless Mobile Utility

This app creates a two-way wireless connection between Nikon cameras and iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices. This means that pictures taken with the camera can be downloaded to any iOS device, and the camera can be controlled remotely, using the iOS device. Plus, the photo sharing feature makes it super easy to upload pictures to social media sites and attach them to email messages.

Free – iOS

DropBox

We think any cloud storage app is always a great idea (long gone are the days of crashed hard drives and losing all of your work!) DropBox is our favorite because it lets you access all of your photos, documents, and videos from anywhere and share them easily. Plus, you can access any file you save to DropBox on any of your devices, computer, phone, tablet, etc.

Free – iOS

Free- Google Play

What are some of your favorite photography apps that you just can’t live without? Let us know in the comments below or feel free to email us at social@livebooks.com.

liveBooks8 – our new responsive, HTML5 platform – is here and it has all the bells and whistles. Information about migration to the new platform will be coming to your email in the next few weeks, but for now, we thought we’d give an overview of some of our favorite new features of liveBooks8!

Varied Content Modules

You’ll have the ability to add as many content modules as you’d like. You can pick from our pre-configured modules or create your own by combining our image galleries, videos, or text blocks.

SEO Everything™

liveBooks8 has incredibly advanced SEO tools – yet they are so easy and simple to use. You’ll quickly be able to add title tags, descriptions, keywords, image alt text, and more to your website so that your site is easily searchable and indexed properly. Click here for more in-depth info on liveBooks8 new SEO tools.

Unlimited Images and Galleries

Photos are the stars of your website – and we want you to have all the tools possible to make them shine. You will be able to add unlimited images to your galleries, then quickly design and customize their layout so that every single one looks great on the page. All images that are added to your website are auto-categorized and saved in the image library. Plus, you can easily add titles, descriptions, and tags to every image on your website to boost your SEO.

Drag and Drop Design

Easily move your content sections, items, and images to create the exact website and layout you want. No need for file attachments; you’ll simply drag and drop images directly from your desktop to your browser!

Easy Responsive Preview

One of the coolest features is the ability to preview your site in desktop, tablet, and mobile views before you publish it – this gives you the chance to make sure your site looks perfect on every device before it’s live!

If you haven’t been contacted about migrating your current liveBooks site to liveBooks8 – hold tight! We appreciate your patience and will be reaching out very soon to get you started with your migration options.

Sue Barr’s goal is to “capture the ordinary to create the extraordinary” – and we definitely think her beautiful images speak for themselves in that regard. We also think her website is absolutely extraordinary – which is why we just had to feature it on the blog this week.

Take a look at what she had to say about her website’s design below – and head on over to www.suebarrphoto.com to see the rest of the stunning site!

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

SB: Candid, Authentic and Focused – I am a Story Teller but don’t confuse me as a documentarian. I am an intricate part of each shoot, whether it’s a head shot, portrait, or event. I compose as I am working and help my subjects with ideas and poses and then lighten the atmosphere with humor. Patience and perseverance are my mottos!

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

SB: I choose my favorite from the most current shoot.

Q: How often do you update your website?

SB: I try to do it about twice a year. Instagram and my blogs show new work weekly.

Q: What is your favorite feature that liveBooks offers?

SB: The ease of re-organizing.

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

SB: Have a clear voice and don’t confuse the viewer. Target your audience and don’t stray.

Check out more of Sue’s work on Facebook and Twitter!

Have a website you’d like us to feature? Email us at social@livebooks.com!