Author: Bryan Esler

I recently took a trip to Raleigh, NC to visit friends. One of my goals, wherever I visit, is to see the local sights and spend a lot of time doing photography. During this trip, the first three days were gorgeous, sunny days. But the last two, we experienced unusual all-day rain in Raleigh. I…

As photographers, we’re responsible for a lot of things beyond just showing up and photographing. There’s editing, setting up meetings, bookkeeping, scheduling our time…the list is endless. Needless to say, it was long overdue earlier this year when I finally decided to investigate studio management and customer relationship management (CRM) tools. What is a CRM? Simply…

Earlier this year, I wrote about the probable demise of Flickr. While it’s still with us, I was recently introduced to a new, unique gallery solution that will be another great alternative to the aging service. And better yet, it helps to bridge the gap between other photography professionals and potential clients. Patron Gallery, currently…

Having an attractive, up-to-date photography portfolio website is one of the most important things we can do for our marketing. I’ve already written about why you need to have an online portfolio — but you aren’t done when you hit “publish” and put your work out there for the world to see. The Importance of…

People are often mesmerized by long exposures. Smooth water, the movement in clouds…it creates an artistic look in photographs that many people desire. About a year ago, I started to take my long exposures to the next level, by using neutral-density (ND) filters during the day. It allowed me to create photographs that had significantly…

“The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here!” Steve Martin’s character in “The Jerk” would croak if he knew that the physical, print phone books — while still in existence — are no longer used by “millions of people everyday.” Despite this, the yellow pages are still very much alive in today’s modern world,…

I’ve been a photographer since college. First, as a hobbyist, taking photos of my friends on my point-and-shoot Canon camera, to remember the memories we were making. It wasn’t until about seven years later that I bought my first DSLR. And this opened up a whole new world for me, leading to my first professional…

As photographers, we often take for granted one of the most important pieces of equipment we can invest in — memory cards. Whether you use CF or SD cards, there’s some simple things to remember in order to avoid card failure. Don’t Delete…Format! While it might make sense to use your computer’s option to delete photos…

What do you think of when you think of HDR? Over-sharpened, bright photos? The majority of HDR photos I’ve seen — you know, the ones you always see on real estate sites — are over-contrasted, too bright and just unappealing. But there’s a different side to HDR, one that’s more realistic to a natural-looking photograph.…

Like many photographers, I have a website that I’ve put a lot of time into, and that has some e-commerce and blogging features. But one thing I don’t have is a side portfolio to showcase my non-client related work. For me, Adobe Portfolio made clear sense to fill this role, especially because it was included…