Photo Of The Week

Today's photo of the week was taken by Robert Buss. He calls it "A Ride Through Yellowstone."

We Want To Feature Your Work!

Do you have some really amazing photos you have taken recently or some of your past work that you simply love? We want to see! Each Tuesday, we will be featuring a "photo of the week" right here on the Camera Giveaways blog. We are looking for anything from amazing landscape photos, a gorgeous wedding or engagement shot, sports or animal photography, an awesome fashion photo...whatever you want to share, we would love to see!

Email your photos to contact@cameragiveaways.com with the subject "CG Blog Photo Submission" for consideration. In your email be sure to include a description of your photo, your name and company name as well as website and social media links. Please... no watermarks! If this information is not included, your photo will not be included.

The Most Iconic Prop From Star Wars Is.... A Camera Flash

Who knew that a camera flash would be the most iconic prop from Star Wars. In the movie, the handles of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader’s lightsabers were both made from vintage camera flash guns. Pretty cool, huh?!? 

Watch this short episode below where DigitalRev In-Focus explains how set decorator Roger Christian is responsible for making the most iconic prop from Star Wars being a camera flash. 

Star Wars had quite a small budget at first, so Christian had to visit antique dealers and thrift shops for prop ideas, and in a tiny photography shop on London’s West End, he found a 1940s Graflex camera with a 3-cell flash gun attached. The flash gun, with only minor modifications, would become Luke’s iconic lightsaber. Watch more in the video below:

It only cost Christian $15 to convert the flash gun to a lightsaber, but one of the two he created was sold to a museum in Seattle for $250,000, making this flash handle one of the most expensive movie weapon props ever sold. In the original article on PetaPixel, they said, "thanks to the prop’s “return” in Episode 7, chances are good that price (and the flash gun’s status) will only go up."

Photo credit: PetaPixel

Photo credit: PetaPixel

If you love Star Wars, just like we do, be sure to watch the video above to hear more about this piece of camera equipment and how it became one of the best-known props in movie history. 

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Photo Of The Week

This week's photo of the week was taken by Nick Tolentino with Piranha Studios. 

To see more work from Nick and Piranha Studios visit his website at www.piranhastudios.ca or check them out on Instagram. 

Models: Instagram: @Jessica_and_Erika
Assistant: Instagram: @Lukemendiola

We Want To Feature Your Work!

Do you have some really amazing photos you have taken recently or some of your past work that you simply love? We want to see! Each Tuesday, we will be featuring a "photo of the week" right here on the Camera Giveaways blog. We are looking for anything from amazing landscape photos, a gorgeous wedding or engagement shot, sports or animal photography, an awesome fashion photo...whatever you want to share, we would love to see!

Email your photos to contact@cameragiveaways.com with the subject "CG Blog Photo Submission" for consideration. In your email be sure to include a description of your photo, your name and company name as well as website and social media links. Please... no watermarks! If this information is not included, your photo 

4 Cute Background Ideas For Valentine's Mini Sessions

Valentine's Day is almost here and you may have been trying to come up with some fun ideas for Valentine's Day mini sessions. A unique background is what make the session fun and brings out the love theme that you are looking to get. Today, we are going to share with you 4 cute background ideas for Valentine's mini sessions that we just adore. 

Set up your very own kissing booth background! Perfect for a family session, couples or even children! 

Photo credit: Christina Z Photography

Photo credit: Christina Z Photography

If you have a studio, you most likely already have a white background... dress it up with a few cut-out hearts to spice the photo up a bit! 

Photo credit: Anna Bartell Photography

Photo credit: Anna Bartell Photography

Use a chalkboard to write a fun message is a fun idea! 

Photo credit: Simply Treasured Photos

Photo credit: Simply Treasured Photos

You can't have Valentine's Day without some fun candies! This is such an easy background to put together and does not cost much money. 

Photo credit: hulahoopphotography.com 

Photo credit: hulahoopphotography.com 

Be sure to also read our post on 2 tips for planning the perfect mini session. Do you have any fun background ideas that you have used for your own Valentine's or love themed mini sessions? We would love to hear all of your ideas in the comments below! 

 

Do you want to get even more great tips for planning, pricing and marketing your mini sessions? Purchase "The Ultimate Mini Session Guide" today.  Don't miss out on this 108-page guide today!   

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE "THE ULTIMATE MINI SESSION GUIDE" NOW!

 

 

 

 

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The Best Drone Photography of 2016

Drone photography has really become very popular and we have seen some pretty amazing photographs that were taken by drones. Whether you are using it to photograph a great landscape, an aerial shot of a wedding, sporting event or anything else you can imagine, drones are pretty cool.

Every year, SkyPixel hosts the largest aerial photography contest in the world to showcase the best of the best. This past contest, Conde Nast Traveler partnered with SkyPixel to choose some pretty stunning winners. Today, we want to share 8 of their winning photographs with you. We hope you enjoy some of the best drone photography of 2016! 

Grand Prize. "Fishermen Closing The Net" shot near Yacheng Bay, China. Photo by Ge Zheng. 

Grand Prize. "Fishermen Closing The Net" shot near Yacheng Bay, China. Photo by Ge Zheng. 

First prize in the professional beauty category. "Exploration" is a photo of Bactrian camels making their way through western China's Taklamakan Desert. Photo by 王 汉冰. 

First prize in the professional beauty category. "Exploration" is a photo of Bactrian camels making their way through western China's Taklamakan Desert. Photo by 王 汉冰. 

Second place for professional beauty. "Spillway Selfie" taken by dixonltd. 

Second place for professional beauty. "Spillway Selfie" taken by dixonltd. 

Third place for professional beauty. "The Earth" features fireworks captured at just the right moment in Tibet. Photo by 李珩. 

Third place for professional beauty. "The Earth" features fireworks captured at just the right moment in Tibet. Photo by 李珩. 

First place in the enthusiast beauty category. The Baling Bridge in southern China on a foggy day. Photo by 诚涵.

First place in the enthusiast beauty category. The Baling Bridge in southern China on a foggy day. Photo by 诚涵.

Silver medal in the enthusiast beauty category. "Green Waves" shot in the countryside of Siena, Italy. Photo by Mauro Pagliai. 

Silver medal in the enthusiast beauty category. "Green Waves" shot in the countryside of Siena, Italy. Photo by Mauro Pagliai. 

Third place winner in the enthusiast beauty category. Offers a rarely seen bird's-eye-view of a cracking ice river in northern China. Photo by Canloker. 

Third place winner in the enthusiast beauty category. Offers a rarely seen bird's-eye-view of a cracking ice river in northern China. Photo by Canloker. 

First prize in enthusiast 'drones in use' category. A long exposure shot of a drone circling a 16th century structure. Photo by Fifa. 

First prize in enthusiast 'drones in use' category. A long exposure shot of a drone circling a 16th century structure. Photo by Fifa. 

What amazing photos these are! To see all of the winning photos in the SkyPixel drone contest, visit SkyPixel. And here are some other drone photos you may enjoy seeing: 

Did you take a photo outside at a festival, street fair or sporting event and really want to add a little something extra to it? Overlays Made Easy! The Collection would be perfect for you! This product will help you to fix a blown out sky and edit in a "mood." It even includes bokeh overlays to really add some pizazz to your backdrops. Get this collection today for $99.99! 

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Photo Of The Week

This week's photo of the week was taken by Dennis Lubach. Here is what he had to say about his photo:

"Taken in the summer of 2016 in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. My grand daughter showed me where the nest was and we looked for an adult close by. And there she sat, a few feet away from the nest. We were awed as we finally got to see her. This photo was taken with a Nikon D300S and a Nikon 28-300mm at 300mm and was edited in Lightroom. There were also 2 young eagles in the nest but unfortunately those photos were a little blurry."

We Want To Feature Your Work!

Do you have some really amazing photos you have taken recently or some of your past work that you simply love? We want to see! Each Tuesday, we will be featuring a "photo of the week" right here on the Camera Giveaways blog. We are looking for anything from amazing landscape photos, a gorgeous wedding or engagement shot, sports or animal photography, an awesome fashion photo...whatever you want to share, we would love to see!

Email your photos to contact@cameragiveaways.com with the subject "CG Blog Photo Submission" for consideration. In your email be sure to include a description of your photo, your name and company name as well as website and social media links. Please... no watermarks! If this information is not included, your photo will not be included.

,

Winter 2017 Camera Giveaway Announcement

,

***UPDATE*** 
It's time to announce our NEW winner! 

Thousands of entries but only one can claim a free camera! And the winner of a new NIKON D810 or CANON 5D MARK III is....

Anna B.

ar*****an@gmail.com

EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T WIN THIS TIME,
HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN STILL DO...

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Photo Of The Week

Today's photo of the week was taken by Mark Brechbiel. He said, "this photo was taken in the Mammoth Lakes area when 'Snowpocalypse 2017' unleashed!"

To see more photos from Mark, visit him on Instagram or on Twitter. 

We Want To Feature Your Work!

Do you have some really amazing photos you have taken recently or some of your past work that you simply love? We want to see! Each Tuesday, we will be featuring a "photo of the week" right here on the Camera Giveaways blog. We are looking for anything from amazing landscape photos, a gorgeous wedding or engagement shot, sports or animal photography, an awesome fashion photo...whatever you want to share, we would love to see!

Email your photos to contact@cameragiveaways.com with the subject "CG Blog Photo Submission" for consideration. In your email be sure to include a description of your photo, your name and company name as well as website and social media links. Please... no watermarks! If this information is not included, your photo will not be included.

2 Ways To Make Couples Feel Comfortable While Taking Portraits

Photographing couples is such a great market. There is just something about capturing the love that two people share for each other. Whether you are taking engagement photos or capturing a milestone anniversary, the couple will look back on these photos for the rest of their lives.

You want to make sure that you capture the couple exactly how they hope to be photographed so they come back to you anytime they need other photos taken. You want to take the time to understand and get to know the couple together... what they enjoy doing together, their hobbies, and even unique places around the city that mean something special to them. All of these things will help you plan a perfect portrait session that will be personalized for that specific couple.

When you are actually at the portrait session taking their photos, you have to keep the couple comfortable to be sure they are relaxed. If they seem nervous or stiff, it will come across in the photos.  The Posing Guide For Couple Portraits, a BP4U guide written by Beth with ENV Photography, gives some great tips to help make the couple feel comfortable with icebreakers and awkward posing fixes and more. Today, we are going to share 2 of those tips with you below! 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE POSING GUIDE
FOR COUPLE PORTRAITS NOW! 

Photo credit: ENV Photography

Photo credit: ENV Photography

1. Have some ice breakers ready. 

You want to have some fun jokes or goofy faces ready to break the nervousness and make the couple laugh. Tell jokes, trip over things... do whatever it takes to get your couple laughing and relaxed. Another fun ice breaker that Beth talks about doing herself in this guide is having the couple nose-wrestle. After rubbing noses together, the couple is sure to be laughing and much more ready to smile big and take some great photos! 

Photo credit: ENV Photography

Photo credit: ENV Photography

2. Work with awkward poses.

Sometimes a pose that you love from a previous couple portrait session just does not look right with the couple you are currently photographing. That is okay! Be confident in what you are doing and just try and adjust the couple to make it more natural - or even watch how they normally move and interact with one another and go with something new.

The one thing you do not want to do is make the couple feel discouraged. Once they realize that something is not working or looking right, they may get tense or agitated which does not help the rest of the shoot and will make them feel uncomfortable. Even if the pose is not working, take a few photos and just go with it without saying it looks funny so they stay comfortable. 

If you love these 2 great tips on making a couple feel comfortable during portraits and want to see even more, you must get the Posing Guide For Couple Portraits today! In this 209 page guide, you will get tons of pose ideas as well as tips on finding the perfect location, pricing and even post processing.  For only $9.99 you can get this awesome guide today! 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE POSING GUIDE
FOR COUPLE PORTRAITS NOW! 

 

 

 

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Cleaning Your Camera: How to Properly Clean Your DSLR Sensor and Mirror

We all love our cameras. As photographers, we cherish our camera and all the awesome features it offers us. But we need to make sure we take care of our equipment to keep it running perfectly while we are out taking great shots.

Think about this... you come home after a photo shoot where you have captured so many stunning photographs only to see spots on your photos. When those pesky dust spots get magnified it can ruin a photograph. Cleaning your sensor and mirror can help with this. 

How often do you clean your camera? It really depends on you. If you are out taking photos every single day and you switch the lens regularly, you may want to do it once a month. You also want to consider where you shoot your photographs... if you are a landscape photographer who is outdoors, your camera will be picking up more dust and dirt than someone who only takes photos in a studio.

Here is a quick video we found that shows you how to clean your DSLR sensor and mirror. 

Check out more similar videos on PhotographersOnUTube. Here are a few other videos on Camera Giveaways you will enjoy: 

Do you need a way to help you attract more clients? Perhaps you could use a fresh, new look for your company? The BP4U Marketing Bundle Pack is just what you need. This new collection of marketing templates for photographer is awesome and combines all of the BP4U marketing sets into one large product at one great price. Put these marketing pieces on your website, print them off, use on social media or so much more! Check out this amazing marketing bundle for only $600! 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE
BP4U MARKETING BUNDLE PACK NOW! 

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