December’s Book Releases, Gear and Other Photo News

A New Online Photography Learning Platform
Photographers have a new place to learn new techniques, tips and inspiration online from their successful peers. Skillshare recently launched its School of Photography where over 20 pro photographers with a variety of skillsets and backgrounds are teaching anything from in-studio editorial shooting to food photography.

Social media aficionado Tyson Wheatley shared his wisdom this past September in “The Possibilities of Instagram: Sharing Your Best Photos.” Photo © Tyson Wheatley

An image by photographer Shane McCauley, who is presenting the class “Entertainment Photography: Capturing Music, Events & Lifestyle” in January 2015. Photo © Shane McCauley

Made for shooters of all skill levels, Skillshare provides video lessons and lets students upload and share work, with the added opportunity to win prizes and trips. Skillshare offers a free membership that limits students to one hour of learning per month, while the unlimited membership gives students ad-free, endless viewing with full-screen ability.
Price: Free (limited membership); $9.95 per month (unlimited, with a 7-day free trial)

Photos © Brandon Stanton

Humans of New York’s Brandon Stanton Launches Little Humans
After Humans of New York (a blog, book and Facebook page with over 10 million followers) skyrocketed to unprecedented popularity from its humble beginnings in 2010, it seems only natural that its creator and photographer, Brandon Stanton, would expand the project.

Released this past fall is Little Humans (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), a book that, in HONY-style, is dedicated to the kids and representatives of (as Stanton’s dubbed it) the “micro fashion” world. The 40-page collection features brand-new photos, as well as some of Stanton’s favorites from the past few years.
Price: $18

Courtesy of Thames & Hudson

Peeking Into the Creative Process
Most photographers are familiar with their own creative processes, but how do their shooting peers get their respective creative juices flowing? Stephen McLaren and Bryan Formhals—who are photographers as well as writers—have co-authored a collection called Photographers’ Sketchbooks (Thames & Hudson) that lets readers into the artistic minds of 44 different photographers hailing from a variety of genres.

The work station of Stacy Kranitz, the documentary photographer of blunt and occasionally gritty subject matter. Photos are posted to her wall and her desk is kept tidy, with small figurines included for inspiration. Photo © 2014 Stacy Kranitz

The book, which includes over 500 images of collages, Polaroid studies, diaries, installations, contact sheets and more, is accompanied by interviews with the photographers in which they pick their brains and explain how their processes manifest into creation.
Price: $60

Fundy Direct: Album Ordering Made Simple
Fundy Software has recently launched Fundy Direct, an album-designing and ordering service that aims to streamline the album process for photographers. Now they can design and order albums from participating labs as well as track their orders right from Fundy Direct. “When asking photographers, one of the most difficult parts of the album workflow was the handoff from the design software to the lab’s ordering system,” says Fundy CEO and owner Andrew “Fundy” Funderburg. “We wanted to make that process as seamless as possible, doing most of the work for them.” Fundy Direct is partnering with Finao, Miller’s Professional Imaging and ProDPI, among others, and will be adding more labs throughout 2015.

Photos courtesy of Tamara Lackey

Tamara Lackey’s Lush Albums
Lush Albums, a new eco- and animal-friendly line of photo albums, hit the market last month, headed by Tamara Lackey in collaboration with Fundy and Finao. It offers three different collections so far, each with their own sets of color palettes and materials: Zen Silk, Velvety Suede and Soft Linen.

“We wanted to start off with these materials, what we knew were solid,” Lackey says, “and we’re hoping to expand the collections down the road.” Using fine-art paper that is available in a variety of sizes, the albums are handmade and can come with their own hand-stitched bags. Lush Albums operates exclusively through Fundy Direct, and ten percent of the proceeds go to Worldwide Orphans Foundation and Save the Children.
Prices: Starting at $185-$195, depending on size (10 spreads); $12-$13 (each additional spread); $30 (custom bag)

Photo © Benny Migs

How To Do Portraits Differently
A new instructional book by Benny Migs has been touted to be especially helpful for photographers looking to spice up their approaches to portraits. Shooting flattering and dramatic photos with speedlights as well as working within a wide range of spaces and venues are just a couple of lessons explained within the book’s pages, which are accompanied by 60 of Migs’ portraits. Alternative Portraiture: Artistic Lighting and Design for Environmental Photography (Amherst) is due out December 16.
Price: $27.95

A Convertible On-the-Road Tripod
The shiny, black-and-white Roadtrip tripod from Photojojo is a two-in-one grab-along; in a couple of quick steps, it can be converted into a monopod with a nearly 5.5-foot extension, and then collapse to just over 1 foot long. It comes with a standard mount to accommodate the majority of cameras, and the spike-footed legs twist to lock into place. Made of aluminum (it weighs 3.6 pounds, with the ability to hold 17.6 pounds), the Roadtrip pans the full 360 degrees, has a built-in bubble level to keep horizons straight, and comes with its own carrying case.
Price: $189

Zoom, Zoom: Two New Lenses from Tamron
Tamron has upped its zoom-lens repertoire with two new lenses: the all-in-one 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens and the 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD ultra-zoom lens, both built with Tamron’s Vibration Compensation to reduce camera blur.

The 28-300mm sports a smaller multi-stack-cam layout and Piezo Drive (a more compact AF structure), allowing it to clock in at a portable 19 ounces and 3.8 inches in length.

The more sizable 150-600mm lens (measuring 10.1 inches and weighing 4.3 pounds) features Tamron’s Ultrasonic Silent Drive, making for faster and more accurate autofocusing.
Prices: $849 (28-300mm); $1,069 (150-600mm)

Alternative Photo Displays from Simply Color Lab
The photo display company Simply Color Lab has come out with a host of new products, including Shelfies and 3D Collages, both of which allow photographers to show multiple images at once.

Photo © Cardwell Aukerman Photography

The Shelfie is a solid wood base (that comes in black or white, 24 or 30 inches long) with slots for three interchangeable 6- or 8-inch prints.

Photo © Ashley dePencier Photography

The 3D Collage gives photographers the creative freedom to display three to seven different fine-art, metal or canvas prints in one cluster using Simply Color Lab’s 3D hanging system. There are 20 different 3D collage templates to choose from, in a variety of print sizes.
Prices: $60-$90 (Shelfies); $60-$220 (3D Collages)

PhotoDirector: Bringing Quality Editing to Mobile
Cyberlink aims to raise the sophistication of mobile editing with its recently released PhotoDirector app; users have the ability to remove parts of an image, as well as adjust saturation, tone and tweak other settings and effects. There are over 50 preset effects to choose from (Lomo, HDR, Vignette, etc.), plus a skin-smoothening tool. Users can instantly share their work to social media, and those with the app’s Premium Version will be able to skirt around the in-app ads.
Price: Free; $4.99 (Premium Version)