Hi all, in the interest of learning and growing as a photographer, I want to help you all become greater photographers yourselves! The prize will be a limited edition, signed premium print from yours truly!

Now for the details, I want to see a themed photo from you as well as a quick blurb on your vision and what gear/settings you used. This theme is completely up to your interpretation!

Use my blog entries as well as other resources you may have access to, whether it be people, books, internet articles or other means. It’s wide open to everyone and anyone!

Theme: The color Red.

Please email dan@thinkdan.ca and I will post the entries on my blog. Once these are up I will then judge by a panel of personal photographer buddies.

Contest entry deadline is September 1st at 11:00pm.

Photo must be taken between the dates of July 28 and September 1st.

Final judging to be completed and announced September 15th.

If you have any questions, please email me!

Keep shooting,
Dan

If you want to be good at something, it just makes sense that emulating, studying, learning from photographers who do work you admire will give you a shot at improving.

I spent my early years as a photographer on the wings of several pros who were kind enough to patiently answer the 100,000 questions I had nearly EACH WEEK about photography.

By studying these established pros, watching how they work, when they work, what sort of gear they used, looking at their pictures, searching their images for ideas and strategies, I improved.

If you want to do the same thing, here are three tips to get you started.

1. Find a photographer(s) to study. You want to be a wedding photographer? Look at Clay Blackmore or Bambi Cantrell. How about a nature photographer? Art Wolfe. A photojournalist? Try Joe McNally. I could go on, but you get the point. Pick someone who’s work you admire, and set their standards as your goals.

2. Actually STUDY the work of the person you admire. What do they do that sells? Which of their pictures has won the most awards or generated the most controversy? What sort of subjects do they photograph?

3. Read books, attend workshops, go to photo meetups and discuss the methods, ideas and approaches you’ve used as a result of your study. Getting other photographer’s feedback will help you learn whether or not you’re achieving your goals.