Finding Joy There's a lot of emphasis on finding joy right now, especially as this time of year bursts onto the scene. The holidays are coming up, and we know this because holiday decorations have been up since September. I actually saw a full-on Christmas tree go up in a retail store well before the pop-up costume stores had closed, and for some reason that scared me more than the window dressings in Halloween Town. And receiving countdown messages to Black Friday from r

Model Search! We are currently conducting a model search, seeking the following individuals for a series of upcoming commercial behind-the-scenes web shows for Nikon that we will be shooting in Durham, North Carolina: 1 6-8 year old boy or girl 1 4-8 year old girl or boy who either has a puppy, or young dog, or who loves animals 1 18 month - 36 month old girl or boy and 1 couple who is comfortable sharing honest emotion with each other in front of a small film crew

PDN's Photo Plus Expo This week I will be speaking at PDN's Photo Plus Expo at Javits Convention Center in New York City. I've had the pleasure of speaking at this particular convention a few times now, and it's a rather massive one. Anywhere from 24,000 - 40,000 photographers will attend over the course of a few days, and Javits is really a cavernous venue, so it makes for a pretty gigormous show. Here is my schedule of programs: Wednesday, October 23rd at 2:15 pm Wit

Mom's Night Out Nikon's famed Nikon School (aptly named, eh?) is offering a brand new program: Mom's Night Out, intended for moms on the go who love photography and need a night out. I personally think that all moms need a night out, across the board, so if you love photography, too, this is a perfect storm of awesomeness . The program takes place on November 7th in Falls Church, Virginia, and I feel quite fortunate that I get to be the Featured Guest of the evening. All

$100 Gift Card Giveaway from Adorama If you've read any of my posts on gear, like this one about why I switched from Canon To Nikon, you've heard me say that I truly don't believe great photography is about the latest and greatest gear. I think it's about the way we each uniquely see the world, the way we connect with each other, the hustle we put into how we do our job, knowing how to technically capture what your imagination sees - and, oh, only about 4000 other things.

Photo Contest! In coordination with my Children's Posing Guide Workshop starting July 10th, which you can watch for live free when you enroll here, creativeLIVE is hosting a photo contest - complete with some pretty fantastic prize packs. Huge thanks to I Heart Faces, Adorama, Animoto, Artsy Couture, and Peachpit for contributing some wonderful prizes - as well as to Nations Photo Lab, who is also offering 25% of ALL orders through the end of the workshop month if you use

Call for Child Models In less than two weeks, I'll be delivering two back to back programs for creativeLIVE in San Francisco - The Children's Posing Guide (which will run July 10th, 11th, and 12th) and Relationships: The Heart of Life and Business (which will run July 13th and 14th). Both programs are very different. The first is all about photography... And the second workshop is all about - well, it's all about relationships, inside and out. For The Child

Relationship Workshop San Francisco Join our Relationship Workshop in San Francisco this July 13th and 14th as part of our in-studio audience at the brand new studio in the city at creativeLIVE. This 2-day program is entitled Relationships: The Heart of Life and Business. Interested in photography AND improving the quality of your relationships? Join us for both programs - this Relationship program and the Children's Posing Guide workshop July 10th-12th. What i

Free Children's Posing Guide Workshop Join me in San Francisco this July 10th, 11th and 12th for a FREE Children's Posing Guide Workshop, to be broadcast worldwide on creativeLIVE! This class is NOT for you if you only photograph professional child models who respond to you exactly as you ask all the time - if, however, you're like me and you photograph children who don't really do posing but you know what shots you could get, this class is designed to show you how to

In this brand new episode of ReDefine Show, I speak with Matt Kloskowski, Lightroom guru, talented landscape photographer and Director of Education for Kelby Media Group, about his transition from sales to marketing to art. We met up at Photoshop World in Las Vegas, and he shared how he made his transition from an early job in sales at Caterpillar (interesting sidenote: his initial profession stemmed from choosing a major he'd heard would be easiest!) to where he is now, an

Free Song License with Posing Guide We have JUST released the 2nd Edition of The Posing Playbook ... For Kids Who Don't Do Posing with an additional 20 pages of content, for no additional cost. This new, expanded children posing guide now includes over 80 pages of content-rich direction, more metadata and even more detailed instruction. And, for a limited time (until we run out of them, to be exact!), we're giving away a free $60 song from Triple Scoop Music with your pur

The Switch from Canon To Nikon - Why I Did This post may seem overdue, since I've fielded quite a number of questions related to my switch to Nikon, but I think it's kinda timed perfectly. Sometimes all the answers aren't delivered all at once, and I wanted a more comprehensive overview in response to the most common question I've received over the last six months: Why did you switch from Canon To Nikon? So - here it is: Being a professional photographer for the last 10

Mother's Day Mother's Day is this week, in case you hadn't noticed the deluge of marketing, print ads, radio spots, emails, post cards, commercials and sales! No doubt it's a marketing heyday, but Mother's Day is about a lot more than the commercialism of it (although, um, we are offering gift certificates in any amount you choose, last minute happiness ; ) It's about loving the job - and, yes, omg it's often work - but also needing to feel like it's somewhat appreciated,

In this new episode of ReDefine, I speak with well-known commercial photographer and long-time educator Bobbi Lane about about her best creative and business advice on the competitive field of professional commercial photography after 35 years of shooting. We sat down at Photo Plus Expo - in beautiful New York City (between our respective presentations!) - and she shared some very cool behind-the-scenes information about a striking drag-the-shutter rooftop shoot and a few ex

My good friend Matthew Jordan Smith has only a couple days left to get his Kickstarter project, Future Presidents, fully backed! If you haven't checked out his project already, you can read a lot more details about it here. He's got some great people involved, from former Samuel L. Jackson to President Jimmy Carter to Disney's (and Dances With The Stars') Zendaya: Here is the overview: If you're a photographer, check out the great educational opportunities included in

Using The Posing Playbook I have to give credit to that genius quote to Don Herold, who also wrote one of my other favorites statements: Unhappiness is not knowing what we want - and killing ourselves to get it. Truth all the way around. Luckily, this sweet baby boy happens to have a very happy mama, who knows exactly what/who she wants: Where Photographed: Tamara Lackey Studios, Durham, North Carolina By: Tamara Lackey Camera: Nikon D4 Lens: Nikkor 85mm 1.4 Lo

In these Part 1 and Part 2 episodes of ReDefine, I speak with award-winning director, Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer, and popular educator Vincent Laforet about how he pulled far and away from a crowded field of filmmakers to stand out as a major player. A three-time winner at the prestigious 2010 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, Vincent is considered a pioneer in the field of HD-capable DSLR cameras. He also happens to be a really nice guy with an incr

Baby Photography One of the best parts of portrait photography? Without a doubt, the faces looking back at you. Love. This . Work . Where Photographed: Chapel Hill, North Carolina By: Tamara Lackey Camera: Nikon D4 Lens: Nikkor 35mm 1.4

Photographers from around the world just made their annual spring trip out to Las Vegas for the WPPI Convention - and so I did, too. It's hard to believe that I've been speaking at this convention for five years already - what on earth?!! And this year was set up to be a very interesting one - given the impact of some rather excellent online photography training, a lot of people wondered what turnout would really be like, but it was another packed show with about 12,000 peopl

WPPI 2013 Each year, tens of thousands of photographers and creatives head out to Las Vegas for Nielsen Media's WPPI Convention - and it's that time again, as the festivities kick off in a matter of days. It's a whirlwind week and, like many there, I'll have a pretty packed schedule. So packed, in fact, that I often try to step back into a closet, or hide under a stage, (or wrap myself up in a curtain) for a good 5 minutes several times a day, just to close my eyes and re-ce