The Phoblographer

No, this isn’t one of them.

Let’s admit it: our society is one that loves to objectify people/things for the sake of revenue. It’s a proven tactic—and it’s worked. Plus, there is something just so alluring about photographers: with our big lenses and all. One of the staples of marketing is appealing to a human need. In this case, it’s the primal instinct to reproduce and have pleasure. These ads tend to stay in the back of one’s mind and in today’s viral society promotes a spread that is almost uncontrollable. This is an ode to some of those ads as well as a bit of an analysis and a history.

Editor’s Warning: Some of these ads may be a bit NSFW. Please exercise caution.

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Need something inexpensive, useful and good for a photographer, or are you looking for an idea to tell family and friends? Check these out, and you procrastinators can also look at our holiday gift guide.

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The other day the I shot a wedding and brought along the Pentax K-5. So far, I believe that the Pentax K-5 is a great event camera, offering a respectable 16.3 MP; compact dimensions; intuitive, creative controls; and a remarkable maximum ISO reach of 52,200. I photographed a wedding this past week and took along our demo K-5 with its Pentax SMC 55mm f/1.4 DA* lens. After the jump: a discussion of Pentax’s flagship 35mm DSLR and its appeal for wedding photography…

Editor’s Note: Day 1 and Day 2 are here for your reading pleasure.

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Everyone has to start somewhere, but there are clients that are just absolutely ridiculous at times. In this digital age and in a time where camera companies are marketing their higher end cameras as being so simple to us, people don’t consider that it is the photographer that takes the images. This posting is dedicated to those people. At the end, let us know in the comments some of the worst excuses you’ve heard. We’d love to hear a good story.

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There are many of us out there who are parents, spouses, and photographers. Some of us manage to balance our photography with our marriages, raising children, day jobs (if photography is not your day job). For me, love, marriage, children, and my job came before photography. Over the past year, I have had the fine task of integrating it all. It has influenced every facet of my photography from the camera I purchased to where and how I shoot. I have learned a bit, and I want to share those lessons.

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I’m a nice guy—or at least I believe I am. So when I was sent little segment from a conversation above on one of the most controversial internet forums, I became a bit hurt and a bit angry. Here are my problems:

* The statement of, “Being superficial and artsy seems to get you all the cunt in the world.” is really quite rude. First off, do you really have such little respect for women that you need to use such demeaning language about them?

* I’m the artsy type: before I was a photographer I was a creative writer. Before being a creative writer, I was a musician. I’m disgusted that the commentor lacks this much self-confidence as a man that he needs to fake actually being artistic, creative, and able to create compelling content.

* If you really need to lug around your DSLR to attract women then you need better social skills. Sure, everyone and their mother has a DSLR in NYC now and everyone and their mother don’t know how to use them. But trying to fake that you’re an actual artist? Are you serious? I shoot for an extra income because I love it, and because I’m actually artistic. I don’t need to fake it and I surely don’t need a camera in my hand to have the confidence to walk up to a woman with a friendly smile and start a conversation. If you understand that they’re human beings too and actually listen to them, maybe you’d be able to gain some respect for them and yourself.

I’m stopping here. Photographers: thoughts? Let us know in the comments.