It’s Okay to Copy – The Four Steps of the Creative Process

I often have the occasion to work with people who don’t necessarily work in what society considers a creative field. For example, a sales person will request a piece of content from the marketing team. They often have some vague direction like “I want it to be sexy.” or “Jazz it up a little.” I have to laugh because in addition to giving completely unhelpful direction, it’s clear that they don’t understand the creative process. They don’t even understand that creativity is a process. I’d love it if I could just crank out creativity on request, but it doesn’t work like that.

7 Days in Haiti

I recently returned from a trip to Haiti. I was traveling with representatives from Kyäni, an Idaho Falls company that sells nutrition and food supplements.

Kyäni’s nonprofit foundation, Kyäni Caring Hands, manufactures a nutrient-fortified instant potato product.

We spent a week distributing the product at Haitian orphanages and churches in an effort to alleviate hunger and scout potential humanitarian distribution lines.

What are your Top 3 Photographs?

Recently I’ve been reflecting on the type of photography I enjoy the most. I’m fortunate to work as a full time photographer/videographer, but I’ve come to realize that many assignment I get paid to do don’t have a lot of personal meaning for me. Don’t get me wrong – I’m passionate about creating good work, it’s just that much of what I do is used for a corporate purpose. Again, there is nothing wrong with this, but it got me thinking about what pieces of my own work do I value the most. I set out to pick my top three images – the three images from my body of work that I have the strongest connection to.

Creating Meaningful Work

A few weeks ago I had an experience that if I’m being honest, I’m still trying to process. I had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines and visit some amazing people in extremely humble circumstances. I don’t think I’m a good enough writer to fully portray the totality of the thoughts and feelings I had during and after this experience, but I’ll try to paint a picture.

Michael O’Neal Shares his Experience at Apple and Compares Photography to Jazz

Today, Adorama released Episode 12 of Season 2 of its web series “Through The Lens,” which features fashion and lifestyle photographer Michael O’Neal (@moneal).

Born and raised in NYC, Michael is now based in San Francisco, where he previously worked as a creative director for Apple. Some of his clients include Nest, Mercedes Benz, DSW, Refinery 29, Sightglass Coffee, and Vogue Magazine.

With nearly 700K followers on Instagram, Michael’s work is so sought after that it has been covered in Vogue, Huffington Post, Definition and more. In “Through The Lens,” Michael discusses his best tips and tools of the trade to inspire today’s aspiring photographers.

The Love & Art of Star Wars

Photo by Marco Grob for TIME

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but another Star Wars movie came out this month, December 2015. Everywhere you look, it’s impossible to miss the marketing or headlines of this smash hit addition to the Star Wars movie series. Indeed, this Christmas season seemed more like Star Wars season.

25 Incredible and Inspiring Landscape Photographs

Piper J3 Cub, Stanley, Idaho by Greg Sims on 500px

https://500px.com/embed.jsI have to confess, in the last few months I’ve been in something of a creative rut. We all go through periods of time where it’s a struggle to even want to pick up your camera. One of the ways I am medicating is by searching out the best of the best photography in the categories I’m most interested in. For me, nothing gets me more excited to start taking pictures again than epic landscape photography.

Photographer Combines Star Wars and Street Photography in Subtle Brilliance

I’ve seen Star Wars themed photography projects before, such as this masterful series by Cédric Delsaux. When I saw this new series by Toronto based photographer Thomas Dagg, I was instantly transported back to a time when my younger self would daydream and fantasize about the giant spaceships, walkers, and creatures from the Star Wars universe and what it would be like if they were real. The subtle nature of the composites in this series really help the mystery and realism of the images. Thomas was kind enough to provide a description of his process, both creative and technical:

15 Photography Pinterest Boards for Photography Ideas

Pinterest is a fantastic tool for photography inspiration. I’m constantly using it to collect ideas for future photo shoots. When a new project or client comes up, I can refer to my boards and pull ideas to create a custom mood board with example colors, poses, settings and more. Here are 15 boards that I’ve built for various photography types.

7 Ways to Take your Photography from Good to Great

I like to think of the development of any skill or art as climbing a series of mountains and plateaus. We progress and improve during the times we are climbing, but those periods are divided by times when our work seems to reach a plateau. In photography, we have to keep practicing, experimenting, and failing to keep learning and improving. Here are 10 ways to set yourself up to do just that.