blogs of photogs

Came across this great Pay-It-Forward project today: Roadside Families and knew I had to share it with all my readers on Blogs of Photogs! I’ll excerpt the “rules” below from their website, but the basic premise is this; photographers taking photos of other photographers family and then paying it forward, all with no money exchanged~ a beautiful idea!

Rules for Paying-It-Forward (note from Mary, this is from their website)

1. Once you and your family has been photographed, you have 30 days to photograph another photographer’s family. Don’t be that person that holds up the line because you procrastinated!
2. A photographer and their family (defined) can be any family group that consists of a photographer and his/her family. This could be a regular nuclear family, distant cousins, twin siblings, or conjoined twins. Whatever.
3. Be creative. Let loose! Free your mind!

Rules for Submissions

• Nudity or vulgarity will not be acceptable. Keep it family-friendly.
• Images can be no more than 900 pixels wide (including your watermark).
• Yes, you may watermark your image.
• To keep the chain going, you need to link to your own family post here on roadsidefamilies.com. This is called a permalink, and the url is shown on each post. For example, if JMC shot Joe’s Family and Joe shoots Kelly’s family, then when Joe posts Kelly’s photo on RoadsideFamilies.com, he needs to link to the one JMC shot of him.
  Example (at the top of the post):  Photography by Joseph,     Click here for Joseph’s family photograph
• IMPORTANT! Follow the step by step instructions below for submissions.

So, check it out and find a photographer to photograph your family and then you get to go shoot another photographers family. Love to hear about those that have already done this! Great idea!

best,

Mary

Seshu Photography (blog here ) is based in Connecticut, New England, but Seshu travels extensively to capture lushly gorgeous wedding, engagement and portrait images that are a flawless mix of candid in-the-moment captures fused with beautifully posed images. Seshu was born in NY, but lived in India for 12 years before returning to the US. As he mentions in his bio, he straddles multiple cultures and comfortably immerses himself into their prized traditions. I know you will enjoy his work if you haven’t yet heard of Seshu. Make sure you follow him on twitter too, as he has lots to say and lots of great advice.

Enjoy!

Mary

Uniquely You Photography Blog features Sarah Ulrich’s gorgeously clean, fresh and bright photography. Sarah has both a photography and a design background which are evident in her work as well is in her amazing design offerings to photographers (here) Sarah works out of Lincoln Nebraska, specializing in babies, children and families. Her work is equally amazing on location, or in studio for newborns and maternity. Enjoy!

Audrey Woulard, has been working out of Chicago as a portrait photographer for about 7 years, near as I can remember. Audrey and I were friends online on a parenting board for many years before either of us ever pursued photography as a career, so I got to see her go from starting out to skyrocketing to fame in a fairly short period. Audrey’s work has a very distinctive style, a commercial feel that caught the eye of national campaigns such as Pottery Barn Kids a few years back. Audrey is an extremely successful business woman as well, offering many variations of workshops over the years that have brought her as many aspiring photographer fans as she has photography clients. I’m convinced that if Audrey writes about a product on her blog, or uses a hat, blanket (remember that?) etc in her work, then you ought to buy some stock in it~ her cult following is that strong. Her work has been featured in many places, including the cover of Professional Photography magazine and is the inspiration for many photographers who are just starting out. If you haven’t checked out her blog before, I know you’ll enjoy it.

On a personal note, please forgive my neglecting Blogs of Photogs. Its crunch time for finishing up all my client work. I hope to share a freebie card I designed within the next day or so, hopefully you can use it for last minute orders, or maybe even for your own neglected card! Happy Holidays to all!

~Mary

Jodie Otte works out of the Black Horse Studio located in Northern Baltimore County, Maryland. Her blog can be found here, where you will see a beautiful sampling of her work with clients ranging in age from days old to families. Jodie is equally comfortable and skilled at using both studio lighting and natural light, and her blog also features lots of slices of life from the nature surrounding her home in the cornfields. Aside from being an accomplished and talented photographer, Jodie is also excellent at self-promotion and marketing and has a thriving workshop business and book offerings for photographers as well. I first met Jodie on a parenting forum nearly 10 years ago now, and though I don’t often get over to her blog, it was such fun to see how her kids have grown, and to find that she also keeps chickens (!) as we entered into keeping chickens ourselves this year! You’ll find lots of photographic inspiration here!

~Enjoy!

Mary

Jodi Friedman of Multiple Choices Photography (MCP) has so many irons in the fire I get tired sometimes just attempting to keep track: MCP photography, workshops,  her blog where you can find lots of great information and resources for photography, and her actions which I’ve mentioned before on the blog. She even has guest bloggers, such as this post with beach posing tips! Just had to give a shout out to this great wealth of info. If you haven’t visited before, enjoy!

~Mary

Patrice Gaspard-Nelson of LaBellaVita-Beautiful Life Images works out of Southern California where she specializes in photographing families and children. Patrice has lovely crisp clean and vibrant images, great locations, and her clientele represents a refreshing and delightful range of diversity, which is always a joy to see. Check out her blog for info on her workshop (held jointly with 3 other photogs) for photographers as well, looks interesting!

Enjoy!

~Mary

Bob Smith of No Traces has one of the largest online portfolio’s of amazing work that I’ve reviewed on Blogs of Photogs. Where to start… well you can go to his photoblog to view a singular image with a quote or lyrics or small writing, or read his blog to catch up on his thoughts, or view his flickr stream (my faves are in his “one’s I like” stream here…)

Bob’s passion for photography & life and his artistry and documentary style were just a wonderful place for me to get lost in. So, get a big cup of coffee and sit down and be entralled.

Enjoy!

Mary

Leah Harb is located in Vancouver, WA, but works all around the Portland/Vancouver area, as well as in her studio which you can see in much of her lovely work. The current post on her blog is a beautiful tribute to her just turned 12 yr old son, which I really enjoyed, but make sure you move past that. My main reason for featuring her, {aside from her rocking engagement work, her striking commercial work, and her fab children’s images…} is her recent on location work with high school seniors/grads. Check it out here and enjoy. I’m just kicking into gear with seniors myself, and I know many of you are as well, so I know you are going to love her senior work for inspiration, it is divine!

Since Leah didn’t have a header image on her blog, I’m using her splash page for her post image up top, here on Blogs of Photogs.

And the winner of drawing for the soldered jewelry pendant from below is Karen McKinnon. Email me and we will work out the details. Congrats!

Mary

Since I have so many new readers, wanted to re-iterate a few things I have not mentioned in a long while. First off, I want to remind everyone that the sponsors, with banners along both sides (more in depth info about them can be found by clicking the small “sponsors” link up top) help to support Blogs of Photogs so I can spend all this time checking out blogs, so please visit and support our wonderful sponsors! They are awesome and I’m a personal fan of all their wares.

Second, I get dozens and dozens of emails each week asking me to review photographers blogs, and also get lots from newer-just starting out photographers asking me for in depth feedback on their portfolio/style, etc. I wish I had 50 hours in a day to do all that, but I haven’t figured out how to stretch the day further. So just a note to let you know: if you send in your blog, I will look at it sometime, could be in 2 weeks, could be in 8 months, but I’ll get there someday I hope. Click the “about” link up top for more info on how to get reviewed. Other questions will be answered as time permits, which means, unfortunately, rarely. My 3 kids and hubby need to see me too!

And lastly: I’d really like to revive the “freebies” offerings. I’d love if some designers or (photographers who also dabble in design!) send in some templates, or blends, or textures or even business tips, and I will add them to the freebies page. It was lots of fun during the holiday rush, and I love the karma of sharing. So, send things in via blogsofphotogs@gmail.com and we will get the freebies going again!  Yes, you! You have something to share I’m sure!

Thanks everyone for all your support and kind emails and comments. I read every single one, and I appreciate so much the enjoyment other photographers get out of each other’s work. Thanks again!

Mary