blogs of photogs

Molly Hilton is yet another talented photographer based out of San Diego-and as an aside, I’m amazed at the talent there, I’ve featured a lot of San Diego photogs, perhaps the lovely weather gives you more time to practice?

Anyway, the thing I love about Molly’s work on her site and blog is that she seems to somehow capture a child’s true essence, giving us a brief look into who they really are. Her work with children, especially her black and whites, are just stunning, and I’m going to do something I rarely do, and show you two of my favorites that really connected with me from her site:

I haven’t looked at Molly’s site or blog for a very long time, over a year, but I’m so excited to see the fairly recent launch of her new specialty: Molly Hilton Baby! Molly does fabulous work with babies, she really has a true gift. I’ve been long considering a separate site and pricing structure for newborns and Molly has done it and done it beautifully. Enjoy!

Mary

Since so many of us photograph children, and many of us are parents, I wanted to bring this wonderful group to the attention of my readers:

Parents for Ethical Marketing (PEM-click here for link)

Here is a snip from their website to explain their focus much better than I could:

Why Parents for Ethical Marketing?

Consumer marketing is everywhere. On television. In magazines and newspapers. On the Internet and on school buses. On billboards and on bus shelters. On milk cartons and cereal boxes.

In our public schools.

And it’s almost impossible to buy anything for a child without a “brand identity.” Barbie, for example, can be found on everything from band-aids to board games to backpacks.

As parents, we know there’s a problem. We argue with our kids about what to buy, what to wear, what to watch and what to play. We know what is best for our kids, yet sometimes we give in when we know we shouldn’t.

Of course, parents are ultimately responsible for raising healthy children. But corporate marketers would have us believe that combating their damaging commercial messages is exclusively our problem

Parents for Ethical Marketing thinks it’s about time that corporations take some of the responsibility.

Through parental awareness, public pressure, and legislative initiatives, Parents for Ethical Marketing encourages corporations to adopt responsible marketing standards and practices that sustain the health of children and families.

If this is a topic that is interesting and important to you, as it is to me, you can join PEM’s mailing list for updates and action information. Thanks for reading!

Mary

Angela Weedon is based out of Dallas, TX, where she works with her husband Matt alongside her-helping with the business side and “toddler wrangling” as she calls it. Her work is amazing, and from viewing her site and her blog, I get such a sense of talent, and a textbook view of what a well established & grounded upscale photography business should look like.

I will try to keep this mini-rant small, but seeing how well Angela & her team work together is so evident from her online presence–it makes it all the more clear to me that the thousands of new “shoot & burn” photographers cropping up are really hurting customers. You won’t get service and quality from them like you will from a class act like Weedon Photography. It makes me wish there were some kind of guidelines to calling yourself a photographer. A license or something… because clients are getting burned, and it is hurting the name of good photographers all over the country. 

Ok, must put away the soapbox.

Angela’s images are stunning, from studio to outdoors, newborn to families; lovely b&w images, beautiful color-I can’t see anything she can’t do. Really enjoyed her work and site and blog. Hope you will to~

Mary

I’ve found a new favorite inspiration for newborn photography! Kelley Ryden has absolutely enchanting images of newborns, great tones and clarity and posing. You can tell that this is truly Kelley’s niche. Her photographs of toddlers are awesome too…but the newborns… exquisite. Nothing more to say - just top notch. The new mom’s of Omaha, NE better get her while she is still so cheap, because she is extremely talented. Find her blog here and her site here. (make sure you don’t miss her splash page image of the newborn twins…one of my favorite twins images ever!)

Enjoy!

Mary

Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir is an amazing photographer from Iceland. If you have spent any time at all on Flickr, you have probably seen and admired some of her work on flickr. Her blog is about as “no frills” as you can get- (I think it may be the default wordpress?) but her work really does speak for itself. I’d recommend a stroll around her main site first, and then read some of her blog to get a feel for the brain behind the eye behind the photos. Truly innovative and distinctive work, it will inspire you on many levels, as well as eat up a big chunk of your time. Consider yourself warned.

Enjoy!

~Mary

I have had lots and lots of email from people saying that I should feature *my* very own photography blog. So, I decided to do it, with one little twist-YOU–my Blogs of Photogs readers– get to review MY work on my blog and tell me via a comment what you love (or hate…but gosh-be constructive!) about my work and blog and photography. Leave the comment here on blogs of photogs and after a few days of comments, you could win a prize!  I’ll put all the names (of those who leave comments) in a hat, have one of my kids pick one, and the winner gets a sterling silver bangle photo bracelet from Deluxe Photo Gifts! So, check out Mary Hanson Photography Blog here and let me know what you think. 

Thanks!

Mary

Scott Strazzante is a photographer for the Chicago Tribune, and started a blog recently to showcase some of the photos that as he says “don’t have a home”. I’m extremely glad he did… and I”m sure my readers will be as well. I looked through nearly every photo that he has up, and each one offered me something, a memory, a little slice of poignancy, a glimpse into the olympics, a slice of his photographic expertise and more. I hope he continues to post regularly, I’ll be adding this one to my reader for sure. Enjoy~

Mary