Fashion Photography

History of Fashion Photography

Often, the creative desires of the photographers are at odds with the intentions of the editor, as Anna Wintour, fashion editor at Vogue, illustrates: Our needs are simple. We want a photographer to take a dress, make the girl look pretty, give us lots of images to choose from, and not give us any attitude. Photographers - if they are any good - want to create art.

Through this tension have come about some of the most memorable images in the history of photography, transcending the time in which they were made, and representing that time for us today. I became actively interested in fashion photography when, in 1991, I saw an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, detailing the development of the genre in the post war years. I found many of the images extremely captivating and interesting. Though I had enjoyed the fashion photography of contemporary magazines such as Harpers and Queen and Vogue, I had never before seen so many original prints from earlier decades and I responded to them with enthusiasm, hoping to introduce elements of their technique and atmosphere into my own photography. I intend to use this piece of writing as an opportunity not only to learn more about the history and development of the fashion photograph, but also to analyse, by the use of many of my favourite images, what it is that underlies their timeless appeal, and, from the point of view of a student of photography, the techniques the photographers used to achieve their desired effects. The precursors of fashion photography go back to the eighteenth century, when images of fashionable clothes were printed in magazines and often hand-coloured. Paris was at that time a centre for the production of such magazines, many of which were imported into England. Figure 1 shows a typical example of such an image. The technique of photography was developed in the 1830s, but it wasn't until much later that the métier of fashion photography came into existence. The earliest popular photographic technique, the daguerreotype, could not be used for mass printing. A later technique enabled the production of the "Carte de Visite" which were made for individuals and which also depicted famous theatre and music hall personalities of the age. It wasn't until advances in halftone printing techniques that fashion photographs came to be featured in magazines. This happened in about the first decade of the 20th century. Baron de Meyer (1868 - 1946) called "The Debussy of the Camera", had wealthy, though not aristocratic origins. He was born Demeyer Watson, of a French father and a Scottish mother, and grew up in Saxony. He came to London and married into nobility. He was given the title Baron de Meyer and set out on a life of extravagant entertaining His main characteristic was a wonderful use of backlighting and the soft-focus lens. In Fig. 2, we see many of the characteristics of his style. Though static, the pose is natural, and the picture is arranged using a strong pattern of vertical elements, giving a sense of authority and formality. We can see a clear use of the "rule of thirds" in the placement of the curtains and chair. What strikes us as being special to Baron de Meyer, however, are the glinting reflections from the background material and the jewels. The overall key is a light grey, the only dark areas being around the sitter's face, arms and lap. It's interesting to note that the chair is hardly a suitably aristocratic-looking piece of furniture, but perhaps he chose if for its colour, more than anything else. Edward Jean Steichen (1879-1973) was born in Luxembourg, but his family moved to the USA in 1881. With Alfred Stieglitz, he founded the Photo-Secession Galleries in New York. He first photographed fashion models in 1911 for the magazine "Art and Decoration", and worked with Conde Nast during the twenties. The photo above (fig. 3) was made for American Vogue in 1920, and shows Marian Moorehouse, wife of the poet E.E. Cummings, wearing a Chanel gown. The arrangement of rectangular shapes shows the influence of constructivist art, which was influential at the time. The vertically placed white rectangular card has been carefully positioned to show the shape of the falling drapery, which shows signs of considerable retouching. A piece of horizontally placed black card provides further contrast. The head and shoulders stand out from the mid grey of the wall, and the toe of the shoe, pointing elegantly downwards, protrudes into the area of white on the floor. A white and black vertical band just to the left of the model, divides the upper part of the picture, and completes the background. The lighting is a combination of general light plus sidelighting, on both sides, giving the flesh tones a mid to high key, contrasting with the solid blacks. This image skilfully uses very simple props to create an elegant arrangement of forms, modernist in flavour, but classical in order and arrangement. George Hoyningen-Huene (1900 - 1968) was another of the aristocratic practitioners of early fashion photography, and did most of his most memorable work between the mid-twenties and the end of the Second World War. He was born in St Petersburg, but moved to Paris in 1920, where he first did fashion illustration and then photography. He moved to New York in 1935, and worked mainly for Harper's Bazaar. He spent the latter part of his life in California.

How to Become a Fashion Photographer

To Become a successful fashion photographer you must love clothes and to know how to work with a model.

Of all the qualities, imagination heads the list. In spite of the comparative simplicity that marks many fashion photographs today every picture is the product of some photographers imagination.

You will need to approach each photo with a fresh slant.
The background must be harmonious with the merchandise. It must accent it without distracting the eye from the outfit that is featured in the photograph.

The basic rule in fashion photography is concentrate on the merchandise. The merchandise is all important.

Your image needs to sell the product and you need to develop a “feeling” for the garment.
This feeling involves many things. Firstly, it guides the photographer in the selection of an appropriate background; casual, beach, glamour or street depending on the type of the garment.
Second, it “keys” the photographers lighting. If the texture of the gown is important, the photographer will light it one way or another. The clothing feeling is instinctive with some photographers and comes only with experience with others.

Study From the Masters

You should build up a library of a file of fashion magazines as many as you can find! Some old fashion magazines can be found valuable as the fashion changes and you can be inspired by some old approach and find out when the “old” is due to become “the latest” again.
Your file heading should read “backgrounds” “Poses” “Lighting” “Single Figure” “Two Figure” “Groups” etc.

These files will help you to study the fashion photographs of the masters and to find yourself that some pictures will appeal to you move than others. Try to study how they did it and what kind of the tricks they use to achieve effects. It will also give you a better idea of what you will actually need in the way of a studio and equipment.

Minimum Studio Equipment
Two large format digital cameras (20 million MP) and
One DSLR (11 million MP) for location and studio
One tripod
Additional lenses filters
One good and reliable exposure meter
Lighting units
Studio screens, preferable large and white
Background reflectors
Posing stands
Small dressing room
Bright lighted mirror and shelf for cosmetics.
Nine feet is the minimum height for a studio as some time you will need to shoot from above and 15 feet on each side.

Handling the Model

As your dealing with human beings, the first basic rule is don’t yell!
Keep your voice low and your temper and try to pose her calmly to achieve your goal. Without a friendly feeling between you and your model you will not achieve a successful fashion shoot it is exactly like in every relationship between two people.

Be patient and choose a model not just for her looks but also for her personality. Constantly talk to her, encourage her and compliment her and if you can even joke with her it will make the atmosphere more fun and the model will get relaxed and she will begin to pose with more freedom and east. With more smiles and more flirtatiousness. With luck, you will get the shots you want in one session. Do not forget to give her time off for a break and for yourself.

In choosing a model look for long, thin legs, a small waistline, slender hips and disproportionately broad shoulders. This is the look that most woman in the western world admire. She believes that she can look like the girl in the photograph if only she buys that outfit.

It’s your job to make her want to buy it!

When shooting, don’t forget to analyze the lighting on the way it falls on the garment.
Study it and learn what is the best way to emphasize the light over the piece of cloth to make it look desired.
Try to improvise in cases that the clothes do not suit your model size such as using clips on the back of the clothes to tuck them in.
Manufacturers expect you to return their merchandise in good condition. Make sure that model dresses carefully. BE PROFESSIONAL!

Location Shooting
On location use DSLR and before you go look and your file for inspiration. Try to fit the look to the location mood.
Models for action, outdoor fashion pictures need different qualifications from models for high fashion.

If you are looking for such a model when there is no agency close by, try to look at your nearest dancing school. Trained dancers are usually attractive, healthy girls that can learn modeling easily and become because they are performing in public they will be far less self conscious than the average non-professional girl.

To get good clothing for the beginner fashion photographer, contact clothing stores in your town and ask if you can rent them for 10-20% of their value.

Also look in any market or second hand shops/flea markets for interesting props.
Choose props carefully for your photographs. You can also develop a connection with a shop for renting pros from them like an interesting radio, tv screen etc. it also applies to animal use and cars.

On Location Recommended Points

• The simpler the background the better!
• Blue sky is preferred by many photographers.
• Look for correct color balance for the outfit and the background including the relationship between the two.
• Public buildings are usually architecturally interesting.
• Make a list of places that you visit and like and create a location list for future work.
• Shooting outdoor is a challenge as you are out of your studio where you control the light and effect and on location you have to consider the weather that is constantly changing.
• So these are necessary for working in the field.
• A good fill flash and reflectors do not work between 11am-2pm.
• An overhead sun causes heavily shadowed eye sockets and white bleached nose.
• The long shadows of early morning or evening are soft and decorative.

Remember as one master photographer summed up “anyone can become a great fashion photographer. All you have to do is make a $3 dress look like $300!”

Digital Photography

• Fashion Photography

A Career in Fashion Photography
Fashion photography to many entails dreams of huge paychecks and a glamorous lifestyle, but it is very difficult to attain this level of success in fashion houses and magazines. For every one talented young photographer, hundreds are left at the sidewalk, only dreaming about the moment that their photographs will be chosen and published in a fashion publication.
Here are a few fashion photography tips for anyone looking to get started in fashion photography. The first tip is study your subject and realized that you can never learn enough. Study any and every fashion magazine you can get your hands on. There are a number of fantastic books on fashion and model photography available. Amazon.com is a great place to find some. You are going to need one or two good cameras, a tripod, and a lighting system. Always make sure that you have plenty of extra film and batteries on hand. SLR and digital cameras take different photos, so you want to choose one that is best suited for your field.
When submitting your fashion photography work, always have your portfolio on hand, in case the editor of the fashion magazine wants to see samples. When putting together your portfolio, sharp images on a 4 X 5” transparency will showcase your work best. If your work has already been published, regardless of whether it was a local newspaper, magazine, or contest, a tear sheet (literally a sheet torn from a magazine) should always be included in a portfolio. Be sure to have at least 20 photographs in your portfolio preferably with different styles.
Remember, fashion includes not only clothing, but jewelry and accessories as well. A luxurious watch from a high end manufacturer adorned on the slender wrist of a beautiful woman would make for a great fashion shoot. If you are applying for a high fashion photography job, be prepared to leave your portfolio behind for an extended period of time. I would advice you to make copies and have several extra on hand in case you need to leave yours behind for some time. This will comes in hand when showcasing your work to many different people when looking for fashion work.

In this modern of the internet, it is imperative that you display your talent as a high fashion photographer online as well. Set up a website with samples of your work. Submit your photos to online contests. Submit them to online fashion gallerys and stock image sites. This will help to get your work seen so that people can see your high fashion photography skills.
Most fashion editors are looking for your individual personality in the photographs that you take. Every fashion photographer captures the essence of the fashion item and its model in their own unique way. Therefore, you want to learn from what other successful fashion photographers are doing, but you need to develop your own unique style. The key is to set yourself from apart from others with your photos. Most importantly, if this is truly your dream, never give up. If you stay persistent and continue to learn and evolve, success will come your way.

• Night Photography

Night photography can be challenging but rewarding.
Night photography is where many people come up disappointed with the results. Why? Because lack of light presents problems with cameras.Cameras rely on light to take images, so presenting the camera with a complete lack of light to work with can choke it up and without proper knowledge by the operator, can result in images of pitch black or blurs.
In this section of the site we will go over some handy tips for night photography which cover all aspects of night photography exposure.

Night photography techniques are easily learned and once you master them you can truly take some spectacular shots of things like traffic, city lights and even night sky photography focusing on the moon.

Night sports photography presents another challenge for the photographer. Combine lack of light with fast moving objects and it’s a recipe for disaster! Well that’s unless you know what you're doing which you will after reading our article!
Ferris wheel at night.
Night photography relies heavily on shutter speed choice as well as the lens and camera you are using.
I

have to say that my favorite night subject has to be when I’m standing atop a tall building in the city looking down on the traffic.I love the blur effect you can achieve with all the traffic lights and car lights, just like the image shown above.
I’m also a fan of going to the amusement park at night and taking shots of the lit up ferris wheel.
As you can see, night photography can be a spectacular form of imagery once you have mastered the basics.

• Sports Photography

Sports photography is perhaps the most challenging form of photography. Because you are almost always dealing with fast moving people, you need to be very quick and your camera needs to be even quicker.
It takes practice to get good motor racing shots.
Professional sports photographers use SLR cameras which are able to fire off rapidly successive photos, often 5 frames per second. Whilst many consumer grade SLR cameras can fire around 3 frames per second, you'll still need skill to capture sports action without unwanted blurring.
In this section we will cover:Indoor sports photographyMotor sport photographyTennis photographySoccer photographyProfessional sports photographyExtreme sports photography
I'll also give out some of my best sports photography tips.
Camera and lenses are everything with sports photography so you'll need to learn all about the latest and best sports photography lenses and the best sports photography cameras which are within your budget. In actual fact you can use any camera to take sports photos, it’s just that some cameras do better than others.
Sports photography equipment often involves more than just a camera. If you're serious about it then you'll need a tripod or monopod, a dirt proof and waterproof bag, filters and various other accessories.

• Nature Photography

Nature photography is a highly rewarding past time and for some people, it’s a career (if you're lucky enough to be employed by National Geographic!).
In my opinion there is nothing more rewarding than setting out for a day of bushwalking or hiking with your camera and spotting all sorts of creatures and ultimately, being able to take spectacular photos of them.
If you want to try bird photography you will no doubt need a big telephoto lens and alot of patience. Some people set out to spot certain species of birds and this often means sitting in the same spot for hours on end in the hope that the bird will come along. This obviously takes patience but is well worth it once you have a picture of that species that is rarely seen by man.
Nature photography is all about waiting for the right moment.
I suggest picking up the nature photography field guide which covers the basics of nature photography.
Nature and wildlife photography are two different things. Nature photography involves taking photos of anything in nature, whether nits living or not. Wildlife photography is a little more challenging since you are working with living, moving objects.
There are nature photography workshops which teach you advanced techniques. These are great for beginners and advanced photographers.
In this section of the site we'll cover the best cameras for wildlife photography as well as lens choices for wildlife photography.
You'll also get some great wildlife photography tips and we'll talk about the most recommended wildlife photography books to enhance your skills.
Professional nature photography is something that many amateurs aspire to but unfortunately it’s a very competitive field to break into so you are best advised to simply enjoy your photography and if you are a budding publisher, consider setting up a page at www.flickr.com where you can share your photos with the world.

• Landscape Photography

An example of a landscape photo.
Landscape photography is the art of taking photos of wide open areas such as mountains, seas and plains.
Landscape photography can also involve things like waterfalls and houses. Basically, landscape refers to a wide area of view. The wider your lens or camera allows you to view, the better your photos will look as you can fit more in.
Some popular landscape photography locations include: Mountains Waterfalls Skies / Sunsets Caves Coastlines Deserts Beaches Islands Lakes
Landscape waterfall photography is perhaps the most difficult form to master as there are many combinations you can use to cause desired effects such as slow moving water or fast moving water.
There is a technique called HDR landscape photography which involves combining photos together to form a very well exposed photo. We will cover this in detail in a separate article.
You’ll also learn some great landscape photography tips and some ideas for landscape photography techniques.
For a bigger challenge consider trying night landscape photography where you'll have to really put your thinking cap on to be able to get a good exposure at night time. Highways full of traffic and city lights are perfect subjects for this.
In this section I will review some excellent landscape photography books and talk about the best landscape photography lenses available today.

Points to Consider For Great Digital Shots

If you are new to digital photography then you should first start off with a compact model before moving on to a more serious pro level camera. Once you are done with the basics of digital photography, it is time to buy a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera and get serious about your photography hobbies. DSLR can be expensive, but even if you buy a DSLR worth five thousand dollars or more, you might not be able to use the magnificent piece of technology to its full potential until and unless you learn a few things about it first.

The very first thing to remember is to observe your subject well and then focus on the part that you want to highlight with your photograph. Zoom in to narrow your view which will allow you to focus on the desired point better. A good photo must have balance, but you can also experiment by creating balance through contrast and complement.

Always try to capture your photos from an angle, that is try to avoid shooting your subject in a straight line. If however, the subject is stationary in a straight line, you must move to the sides appropriately enough to get a desired angle on your shot. Along with angles, take note of the height as well. Try not to capture your subject from a far away height as that may result in the subject losing its focus. Lower vantage points are preferred if you have the subject to focus on, but higher vantage points will work well in case of landscape or other background snaps.

Avoid using flash to shoot as images lose their natural color when capture under the flash. Human beings appear paler and everything attains unnatural colors and looks artificial. Natural lighting is the best for photography, but if not available, then make the best use of whatever light source you have. Master the settings of your Digital Single Lens Reflex camera ISO speed, shutter speed and aperture timing to attain great photos even in near dark situations. If you can understand these three settings well, then you will make the best use of light always.

What sets apart DSLR cameras is mainly the facility to be fitted with macro, telescopic and wide-angle lenses which make your camera so much more powerful. Be it the moon or the tiniest details on the ladybird back or wide and vast scenery, you will capture them all with equal ease. Even after capturing your photos with all the effort that you put in, you still can do so much! Use a filter or any good photo editor software to further modify your picture until you achieve that perfect look. You will realize that as you move on with your photography, be it profession or hobby, you are discovering new areas everyday and the experience will only help in further nurturing your innate skills.

How to Select a Digital Camera For Personal Needs

It is not necessarily that crucial to rely on the brand name when attempting to select the best digital camera. Value is most likely a consideration unless it is for a professional and serious type photographer. However, it is important to note that quality must be factored in with the value. Cheaper can be good; just plain cheap most likely will not be.
Shopping around can be fun and helpful to find the best personal use digital camera; it can also buy some time to save extra money towards the final purchase. Online searches are available that compare functions, features, and costs. If one is a sort of amateur photographer in addition to personal photo usage, then a higher quality and slightly costlier digital camera may be purchased. Researching and asking more experienced photographers can help narrow the options down in this case.
Most people currently use their digital cameras to take personal photos, like pictures of family gatherings and members, or of landscapes and sites visited. These same people are also most likely to use a computer, and they will probably want to upload their digital pictures to their hard drive or a disk in order to save time, money and space. There are very few casual camera users who wish to mess with the hassle of taking photos, unloading the film and dropping it off, then later going to pay for and pick up the pictures. Then they must be placed into an album or scrapbook.
Social networking is all the rage currently, and even parents and grandparents have become part of this internet phenomenon. If digital photos are available on hard drive or disk, then the novice social networker can easily upload these to their site; this is easy and fun, as well as a great source of pride for grandparents. Choosing a very durable digital camera is necessary especially if it will be used frequently (by grandma), and/or if it will travel with the user often.
Resolution is another consideration to make in your choice of the right digital camera. Decent high resolution quality of a medium range is advisable for the amateur family and social networker. Higher resolution is necessary for the amateur freelance photographer or anyone that may be taking action shots or changing subjects and environments often.
Selecting the best digital photo camera for personal needs does not have to be very difficult, time consuming, or even very expensive. Following the above tips, visiting camera stores, asking questions of friends, and doing online searches to compare different digital cameras will insure that the search is painless. Then the best digital camera for personal use will be obtained.
Another way to compare prices and features is to go online to camera review sites. They have a variety of different models and brands, and compare their features, as well as their pros and cons. They also compare prices over many companies, so it is easy to find the best deals. Most major electronics stores also have comparison features when searching for products on their websites.
There are also websites that explain in detail what digital cameras are, what they do, and what things can be expected to get from the purchase. Digital cameras are fun, easy to use, and readily affordable for the general public.

Hardware and Software Requirements For Digital Photography

Photographers are a lot like drug addicts. They start off with a simple point and shoot automatic camera and, if the bug bites them, they start hiding spare change from their spouse to buy film or the next greatest fix... I mean toy. From then on only a twelve step program has a chance of curbing the addiction. The moment I started clicking a camera's shutter I was hooked and there is still no redemption in sight. As I started to get good images it justified my addiction and the expenditures that followed. I'm pretty sure I never took food from the mouths of my children, but I can't be certain. The digital revolution has even deepened the addiction with the instant gratification of image preview.

Digital cameras have saved folks so much money on film but there are many hidden costs with digital. If you want to do something with your images besides take them to one of those kiosks to print some images you will see a need for a computer and some software. You can be happy for a long time with free software like The Gimp or Picasa that does some pretty cool stuff. But, at some time, when quality becomes as important as the image itself, you are going to worry that these software programs are wrecking your image files. Things you didn't notice will start bugging you; blocked posterized shadows, blown out highlights, loss of tone and detail. The more you tweak them the worse they look.

There will be a new high~ processing a 16 bit file. But to process in 16 bit you need Photoshop. Now you can buy Photoshop Elements for about $90 but it lacks Photoshop's greatest tool, curves. To process without curves is like taking a hike and not really knowing where you are or where you're going. I do all my tone adjustments with curves because you can make very precise tone adjustments without worrying about blown out highlights or blocking shadows. Blown highlights are bright highlight areas that should have detail and tone but have lost them because of camera exposure error or improper adjustments in processing. They are then rendered as pure white. Blocked shadows are pretty much the same problem except the tone and detail loss is in the shadow areas. Curves let you set the highlight and shadow points and only make adjustments to the middle tones.

You can find old versions of Photoshop on Ebay and the web quite reasonably but the latest Photoshop CS4 retails for $700. Ouch! Always be careful when buying anything on Ebay. If it's too good of a deal it is probably a scam. If you are a student or have a child in high school or college you can get a big discount when buying the educational (not upgradable) version. Whatever Photoshop version you get be prepared for a steep learning curve! There are good books that can walk you through the basics and many tutorials on the internet. There are also tons of Photoshop plug-ins that do everything from improving sharpness to smoothing skin.

Another hidden cost in digital photography is your computer. Most people have computers in their homes, especially if they have children. Anyone who has purchased a digital camera in the last year has more mega pixels than they really need for their 4x6 pictures. The more mega pixels you have the larger your image files will be and the more space you need on your computer to store them. Since image files are much larger that text files your computer must also have lots of RAM and fast processors to handle dealing with so much data. I have 3GB of RAM on my computer and three external hard drives to store and back up images. My computer often gives me the hourglass figure when I'm working on large files. If your computer is three years old or more and you mostly do text work it may be too slow for 16 bit image processing. If, on the other hand, your child has just talked you into buying a gaming computer with a high end graphic card you are going to be quite happy. So to operate Photoshop and average sized image files you will need at least 1GB of RAM and at least a 1.8GHz or faster processor, otherwise prepare for some wait time. It's also nice to have an external hard drive to store you images so you don't use up all your computer hard drive space. Your computer also needs at least 1280x800 video display with a 16 bit video card.

Most of us still have film negatives or slides in boxes under our bed or in our closet. Memories of our younger years and images of times we still want to hold onto. Wouldn't it be a nice winter time job to scan all those memories and store them on our computer? Many flat bed scanners scan film although there are scanners made just for film and the quality and resolution is better. When scanning slides or negatives be sure to scan them to a large enough file size and resolution needed to get a good print. I spent many hours scanning old negatives one winter only to discover I scanned them to a too small file size for the print I wanted to make.

Digital imagery has made the printing of photographs a much more exacting science. Instead of having color balance a subjective matter it can now be much more controlled. My camera, software, scanner, and printer all have the same color space. This means that all the different tools used to create, process, and print the image all use the same color palette. As your desire for finer quality prints increases the need to 'print your own' will be the only fix for your new addiction. You will justify the expense of the printer: so you have more control over your art.
After you have amassed the whole assortment of every facet of the photographic process your spouse and children will disown you, your house will be foreclosed, and if you still have a job, it will never again be as important as your new addiction. But it was never your fault; it was that of the person who sold you your first camera.

Pretty Up Your Photos With Photoshop

You may not have a great digital camera or even take great pictures, but by learning Photoshop you can touch up and add effects to any photograph. Of course I'm not saying that your photos will look truly professional, but they can be enhanced, framed and tweaked to be sharper, muted or more exciting than when they were taken.
It's All About Those Special Effects
Here are some examples of effects you can incorporate into your digital photos:
• You can make your photos look like they were taken at the turn of the 20th century with a "sepia" effect (though clothing and digital watches might give your trick away)
• You can add beveled borders to your photo and then print it and place it in a nice wooden frame.
• You can drop pixels from the photo by lowering the resolution of the photo for the look of a very grainy picture.

It's not too hard to learn to use some the basic attributes. But that's only the beginning. Photoshop is widely used by professionals, and has the power to prove it. After you've mastered the basics, you can increase your ability and create very sophisticated image processed effects and incorporate them into documents, presentations and websites. There is nothing like a striking image or photo to grab attention.
The Power Depends on Your Knowledge and Imagination
If you have used the more sophisticated software packages before, you know it can be a chore to get a good grasp on how to do things. And so often, so much power goes to waste just because you don't know how to do it, or you are not aware of what can be done.

One way to overcome the learning curve and get a jump start to productivity, along with the more advanced hints and tricks, is with a good set of computer learning CD's. Before you know it, you would be able to apply your new skills to create special effects on the photos you upload onto your social networking pages (e.g. MySpace, Facebook, Digg, Squidoo, etc.) or your commercial web-site. Who knows, your appetite may be whetted enough to become a professional photographer or designer.