…with due apologies for the spam attack and the story behind… And there’s a lot new. But first things first. APN had been in offline mode for over a month now. And there were several reasons, funding being the key issue.

APN started as my personal photography blog. These we my personal memoirs on photography — everything that I learnt and picked up with my Nikon D80. But sometime in Jan 2013 APN couldn’t survive any further without funding. It was time to rethink whether APN was going to be another wild venture in the closing.

APN is special to me… as is photography. So instead of bowing out, it was time to relaunch APN in a new avatar — something that would let me experience photography and help me achieve the creative satisfaction but also (hopefully) allow me to offer my core expertise to photography professionals. I’m a full-time web-designer but with a creative eye.

So here’s the new APN for you — a web-design service exclusively for photographers, packed with photography, business tips and tricks and an awesome forum.

But in the midst of redesign and revamping the forums, APN was attacked by spammers who managed to send at least 3 spam articles to our feed subscribers. As a result we lost many subscribers. I do sincerely apologize for the same and want to assure you that this will not happen in the future. Strict measures are in place to put an end to this and it’s the end for the spam attack.

What has changed with new APN?

1. The feed subscription service has been replaced. Please resubscribe: APN is now sending newsletters via Aweber. The new newsletter is more powerful, easy on the eyes yet comprehensive and robust. Subscription is free of course. Those subscribed to APN through feedburner will need to resubscribe and confirm the subscription here. This will ensure that you continue to receive my awesome photography anecdotes and experiences and the killer tips to grow your photography business and generate more revenue.
2. I’m now offering web-design services for photographers: The only thing that makes me special for the job is the blend of my coding experience with the creative eye. Photography and design are closer that is apparent to the naked eye.

What is in store for future?

Offering web-design services to photographers gives me an incentive to continue sharing my photography experiences. Without it APN would lose the traction and would be more of a fruitless exercise. I think in the new form APN is a killer offering. It not only helps you grow as a photographer but also allows you to run an awesome photography website, helps you with eBusiness and makes it easy for you to showcase your portfolio creatively. Not only will this help you grow your photography business (get new clients, promote your business and generate more revenue), it will also be my endeavor to sharpen your skills as a photographer and as a website owner. That’s the best thing about the new APN — a gateway to making monetary success with Photography.

As I write this post, I recall that APN turns 5 this year — the credit all goes to the wonderful readers and APN fans. With this, I would like to invite you to have a look at the new APN.

APN published some great articles, tutorials, tips & techniques, creative ideas and image galleries in 2012.

A great number of these posts were and still are adored and appreciated by readers. The articles received a warm welcome and a huge fellow readership on social media as well.

APN thanks all the readers for their love and extended support. And presents the Best Of 2012 as the grand opening for a great photographing year ahead.

1. 4 Killer Composition Tips For Awesome Photographs: Want to impress your audience with remarkable photographs? What better than diving straight to the heart of the art  —  the composition. Check out this article and get your hands on the killer composition techniques to make an indelible mark with your photographs.
2. Bokeh Effect — 4 Things You Need To Create That Soft Dreamy Photograph: Bokeh is undoubtedly photographer’s best friend.  That soft dreamy bokehlicious effect can entice anyone to pick up the camera and add that little magic to the photographs. All you need to know is the four simple things covered in this article.
3. How To “Work A Shot” To Get The Composition You Want: Great photographers sweat the details to make an impression with their photographs. The masters of photography work the shot to get that final capture. It is the key to composing the ultimate shots. So don’t forget to check out this nifty piece of advice — work your shots.
   
4. 10 Things You Didn’t Know Your Digital SLR Could Do: As beginners, amateurs and professional photographers we are well versed with the camera dials, modes, controls and functions that we frequently use. However there are some hidden features and functions in your DSLR that can make photographing an unusual experience for you. What are these features? Check out this post to find out some awesome DSLR features.
5. Creative Camera Controls — Using The Bulb Mode To Get Awesome Night Shots: Are you planning to take long exposure shots and your camera’s shutter speed cannot go any slower? Don’t worry! Time to check out the camera manual to see if your camera features a BULB mode. Turn on the bulb mode and depress the shutter for as long as you want. The bulb mode allows you to get creative; especially with night or low-light shots.
6. Which Lens Should You Buy: One of the most common questions among the photographers is “Which lens should I buy“. We have tried to simplify it here.
   
7. 31 Cute, Awesome And Adorable Pics Of Newborns: Babies are cute enough to attract people towards them. However capturing them demands some experience and a little inspiration. This gallery post is the perfect place to get started with photographing the new born babies.
8. Thoughtful Composition — 11 Simple Exercises For Creating Order From Chaos: Learning composition tips and techniques are essential for photographers. So we have made it simple for you. Just follow these simple exercises and you are sure to nail the composition.
9. 15 Spellbinding Examples Of Golden Hour Photography: The naturally soft light, low angle, saturated colors, unusual color cast and dramatic lighting effects is what sets the golden hour apart for photography. It is no surprise that most of the award wining photographs happen during this magical hour of the day. This post thus lists a few examples of golden hour photography.
10. 7 Steps To Get Creative With Artistic Lens Flare: Photographers can get creative with just about anything; even with the optical flaws and camera limitations. Lens flare is one such example. Check out how you can make the most it — the optical flaw called the lens flare.
    
11. 30 Stunning Examples Of Surreal Photography: Shallow DOF, reflections, smoke, fog, textures, shadows, etc add an element of mystery and surrealism to the photographs. These photos look more like a painting than a camera-shot picture and transform you to the world of imaginations. This post is a compilation of the photographs which give you a chance to dive into the unrealistic, imaginative world of surreal photography.

BTW, which one would you like to add to the list?

Last week we started APN Assignment as a brand new feature on APN Forums. Our very first assignment was Beautiful Flower Photographs. It was good to see so many photography enthusiasts and hobbyists participating in the assignment to share their beautiful pictures. Flower portraits, floral fields, fine details — all the submissions were distinctly beautiful. We would like to take an opportunity to thank APN readers and forum participants for the overwhelming response. We had a tough time deciding on which entries to cover. Finally, here are the picks as per our choice — beautiful flower photos submitted in Beautiful Flowers Assignment.

1. Water Lilly by Kimmyvic [Would love to see it without border. Can’t help saying that this could also go well with a complimenting background]
2. Orange Gerberas by Nettyand [Picture perfect, ready for stock photography site]
3. Amazing Scarlet Red Flowers by Nettyand [Great color combination]
4. Water Flower by Chris Munch [Beautiful composition, tones and water droplets]
5. Lily by Picturethisbytom [Beautiful composition and colors]

Thanks for participating in the assignment! Which ones do you like?

APN brings to its readers an amazing offer — an exclusive discount to Jim Jordan Workshop.

About Jim Jordan

Jim Jordan is a famous celebrity, fashion, lifestyle and advertising photographer. He shoots for top-notch fashion and lifestyle magazines. Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Vanity Fair are just to name a few. He is a self taught photographer and is into photography business for last 15 years.

Earlier we had a chance to interview him as a featured photographer on APN and this time we are bringing exclusive discounts to our readers for Jim’s upcoming workshop at Calabasas, California (on 5th & 6th September).

Here are the key highlights of the workshop.

• An Insight Into The Professional Aspect Of Photography

  Behind the scenes, photography is not just an art of taking the pictures. It has a commercial aspect to it as well. And the business aspects of branding, marketing, making new clients & delivering quality play a critical role for professional photographers. Jim will share his experiences as a professional photographer to give you an insight into what it means to be a professional photographer.

• Inspirational Lectures

  Be ready to learn the trade secrets of professional photographers. You will get a chance to learn about Jim’s style of photography — his favorite equipment, photography techniques & post-production process. Along with this, you will also gain a sound knowledge about marketing yourself offline as well as online including social media marketing and networking.

• A Guided Approach To Shooting Professional Models / Celebrities

  You will get to learn the finer nuances of a professional photo shoot. From make-up to lighting and posing to composition, Jim will take you through the entire process of shooting the professional models. And guess what, you will get hands-on experience for photographing the professional models in the workshop.

• Challenges & Critiques

  Photography challenges is the best way to put your knowledge to test. In this workshop, Jim will give you assignments so that you get to practice professional model shoot in real time. Jim will also provide each attendee with one on one mentoring and image critiquing as a part of grooming you as a professional photographer.

• Sponsors

  The attraction of the workshop is that it is sponsored by world renowned photography brands — Leica, Sony, Tamrac, Lexar, California SunBounce, Bron Imaging, Seagate Technology, Drobo Backup Systems, LiveBooks, PhotoShelter, Wacom and Agency Access. That’s not all. Leica will also be providing their S-system camera bodies & lenses for attendees to shoot with.

• Exciting Giveaways

  Jim has lined up exciting giveaways and awesome prizes for workshop attendees. Tamrac camera bags, California SunBounce reflectors, Seagate Hard Drives, discounts & memberships from PhotoShelter, Bron Imaging camera straps are some of the exclusive gifts he is planning to giveaway.

How To Apply

Follow the steps given below to avail the discount offered for APN readers:

• Visit Jim’s workshop website at http://workshops.jimjordanphotography.com/.
• Click on Workshop Registration tab. Now click on Workshops to view the store for buying the ticket.
• Click on either the September 5th or September 6th workshop that specifies “For Brooks Institute of Photography Students Only”. This will fire-up a registration form where you need to provide an ID to avail the offer.
• Enter AdvancedPhotography.net as the ID and click on Add to Bag to get 50% discount for this one day workshop.

Email workshops@jimjordanphotography.com with any questions or visit http://workshops.jimjordanphotography.com for more details and registration info.

Disclaimer: We have no affiliation with Jim or this workshop and do not endorse this event. This announcement has been brought to you in interest of your photography passion.

In an effort to expand our horizons into the photography passion, we at APN have chosen to make some major changes to the site to reflect our vision and commitment to the art of photography.

A New Domain

Advanced Photography started as a small photography blog. However, as we grow into a community of photographers willing to share and learn from each other, we’ve chosen to move the site to www.apnphotographyschool.com to reflect our purpose and vision.

APN Photography Forums

In order to assist better interaction and participation and take our community to the next level, APN now has forums where all of you can ask and answer questions related to photography. The salient feature of the forums is that you need not register. You can log in with your Facebook account or your Google account seamlessly and start posting. Isn’t that cool! Additionally, the forums shall allow us a platform to run photography assignments and also share & showcase our work.

But that’s not all. There’s quite a lot lined up for the future as well. We’ll soon have on offering some professional services which will be targeted as assisting photographers with their businesses. We will have some regular photography assignments to help us feature the works of the professionals in the community. And yes, in addition to the regular email updates, we’ll also have a periodic newsletter-digest to keep everyone informed of the highlights at APN.

Again welcome to the new APN. We hope you enjoy being a part of the APN community!

APN celeberates it’s third birthday today. Through these three years APN has come to be respected as an authoritative photography reference and resource. Many readers expressed interest in being able to carry this huge knowledge resource in the form of an ebook.

Trivia: APN’s birthday falls on the same day as mine. It was actually a well thought out b’day wish for myself!

Success follows success unless it becomes a trend. The same thing is happening at APN. With the growing popularity and admiration for our first resource, Photography Beyond Memory, there were increasing demands for something more comprehensive and in-depth.

APN — The Book Edition 2011

We feel immense pleasure in announcing the latest APN resource — APN — The Book Edition 2011. The eBook is a comprehensive guide for anyone interested in pursuing photography as a lifelong interest and is a compilation of 3 years of work at APN. This book will help you in moving a step ahead of your photographing skills and will equip you with essentials of photography as an art & craft.

The ebook is designed to satiate all the truths, myths and woes related to photography. The book will help you in strengthening your core skills as a professional photographer. And gives you a chance to envy others of your art! Let others look and wonder “Why don’t my photos look like that?”

What are you waiting for? Just gift yourself a copy of this all new APN resource and get ready to experience the professional photographer in you.

As always our subscribers get a 30% flat discount (wait to receive the discount coupon in the daily email/feed).

Fotolia is one of the better known names amongst stock photography websites. It is a repository of royalty-free photos, videos, vector graphics and illustrations allowing photographers to maintain micro-stocks and make money by selling the photographs online. Fotolia, like other stock photography websites offers a common ground to the photographers and designers to buy and sell their artwork.

The stock photography websites allows the members to upload the images free of cost and pays the commission for the sale of the images uploaded by them. Fotolia also follows the same model and offers the commission ranging from 15% to 45% depending on various parameters like file size, type of license and photographer’s rank.

Fotolia’s interface is easy and simple to use. It hosts a secondary menu to provide access to the relevant information just beneath the search box. This panel simplifies access for updating profile, maintaining files and keeping an eye on the subscription plans. Even its mechanism for uploading and downloading the images is user-friendly. To start making money as a Fotolia contributor, you have to:

• Sign up for a free account and go through the training module (provided in your toolbox).
• Upload and index your images (by providing appropriate keywords and tags for your images, to thus make it easy for the searchers to find the relevant images). Of course you need to follow the rules and guidelines for uploading the images. The minimum resolution required for images is 4MP.
• Set the license for your images. Fotolia pays commission on the basis of license used for the image.
• Benefit from the Fotolia’s ranking system. Fotolia’s ranking system implies that the photographer with a higher rank will become a premium Fotolia seller (and thus make more money). Fotolia ranks the photographers based on the number of files sold by the photographer.

Fotolia - Royalty Free Stock Photos

Fotolia has comprehensive search options to make it easy to search through categories, galleries, on the basis of country, from the best sellers and latest uploads or on the basis of tags. It also offers free images under various resolutions and licenses. For downloading the images, you need to sign in, select the images, add them to your shopping cart. Choose the resolution and license for purchasing the images and take your pick from payment options. You can make payment on pay-per-image basis or follow the subscription model. When purchasing the images it is better to cross-check the prices with other stock agencies offering similar / same images. By far, Fotolia offers the affordable prices but you may find the same image on the other stock agency with lower quotation.

Fotolia Giveaway For APN Readers

Leave a comment here and win a one month Fotolia subscription. Winners to be announced next week.

Fotolia is giving away a 1 month limited subscription for image downloads. To enter the contest, leave a comment on this post along with your valid e-mail address (so that we can acknowledge you in case you win; we respect your privacy). The winner will be randomly chosen and announced on 4th August.

Have you tried Fotolia? What do you like about it?

We are pleased to announce Elisa as the winner of this giveaway. Elisa has been notified through a personal email. The contest stands closed. Comments are still welcome.

We are pleased to announce the release of APN’s first eBook — Photography Beyond Memories. Releasing this e-book is like a dream come true. The most awaited moment is here, the grandeur of announcing the very first e-book offering by apnphotographyschool.com.

Photography Beyond Memories is a must have for anyone who wants to enjoy more of photography and turn themselves into a professional. The eBook will provide you with a quick-start to getting a grip on your camera and controls. It then moves to some of the basic but the finer concepts of photography. As a photographer, this book instills confidence so that you shoot like a pro and get professional results.

Photography Beyond Memories is a simple guided approach and a perfect induction for anyone looking to generating professional photography results. Thank you for your extended support to make this dream turn to reality.

Photography Beyond Memories can be downloaded in a high-quality, interactive PDF format here.

We have a special offering for our subscribers (a real surprise awaits you). So if you are not subscribed yet, now is a good time to do so.

Happy Reading.

Here are the results of an year long poll which we conduct here on APN. It’s no surprise that 80% of the users chose to add finishing touches to their photographs. About 20% of the voters do not to retouch their photos and essentially are purists. This reises some new questions — what settings do you alter? What software do you use? Do you retouch every photo or just the selected ones? As far as I’m concerned, I classify my photographs into several categories, one being “Need Adjustments”. And then I go through each of these photos one at a time doing the post-processing and adding the final finishing touches. Sharpness, color, and contrast are high on my mind. What factors do you consider when post processing? Comment.

We’ve come a long way since we started. And keeping in mind the feedback we received and to address the growing fan-ship of the site we’ve redesigned the site. During the process we experimented with dark themes which usually are used to showcase photo-blogs. However apnphotographyschool.com is more than a photo-blog. It is a place to learn and share tips about photography also. Thus with all these things in mind we made subtle changes to the basic site layout. To add an artsy touch we used some grunge design. Please share your inputs about the design with us.

Another feedback we received – a need to share the photographs with our blog community. Time and again we were asked by you if there was a way to share the photographs with us. Well we just launched the APN-Readers Flickr group. A slideshow from the same is embedded into the sidebar. So all the photos in the group-pool will be a part of the slide show. Feel free to share the links to your Flickr photographs with us. They don’t have to be perfect, ask for feedback or criticism on your art work, share with the community – that’s what this group is all about.

Going forward we’ll hope to bring you more features as well as articles rich in the subject area. If you have not subscribed to the blog yet now would be a good time to do so. Do remember to join our Flickr group too. As always we are feedback hungry and if you have any specific inputs about the site design or the Flickr group, don’t wait.

Looks like we’ll have to take a break for a few days (4-5). Here’s a pic of my son who’s keeping me busy :)

My son born on 2nd Feb 2009 – Pet name: Sona

Welcome to apnphotographyschool.com. Since this is the first post let me take you through a small introduction while we save the more specialized stuff for later. This blog is a realization of my long cherished dream. The site had been planned for long but I had always chosen to postpone the plans to a better time when I could do justice to the blog, the subject and the topics I touch upon.

apnphotographyschool.com is powered by WordPress, themed with Thesis and runs on a high-end dedicated server to ensure our focus on priorities and minimize maintenance and routine tasks. While the blog is about the advanced concepts and principles of optics and physics, it will be our endeavor to simplify the information so that it is easier to absorb while not being overwhelming and accordingly simple to apply to real-world scenarios. In the coming days we’ll start by forming base with the simpler concepts and move to more advanced as we progress.

To know more about the objective of this site you may want to click here to read the About page. Do not forget to subscribe to the feed and watch out this space for all the shooting action.