Portraits of the Abandoned United States with Steven Bley

If you enjoy creating art in abandoned locations, you are going to love Steven Bley’s work. He is a photographer from Northern NJ who specializes in photographing abandoned locations. 

“I have been interested in photography for quite some time now, but it wasn't until I first stepped foot into an abandoned hotel in 2009 that I started to take it seriously,” says Steven. “Everything around me told a story and I was able to convey the past life of this place by photographing it's state of decay, piecing together what was once there.  Since then I have kept my eyes open to everything around me, taking in small details which many overlook and seeing the beauty in the world with everything it has to offer.”

Steve joins us next Monday to share his work and his approach. This should be a fascinating presentation. Join by registering below.

When you spend years teaching photography, you start to spot trends. And there was one frustration so many photographers used to bring to me. Well, maybe two.

First, when they saw something interesting and pressed the camera shutter, what showed up on the back LCD screen looked nothing like they imagined. And as a result, their pictures were lackluster.

The other — they didn't think they were naturally creative. They knew others who were naturally creative, but they knew they weren't in that number.

I don't know if you see yourself in any of those situations, but if you do, give me a week and I'll help you fix it.

Want to know how? I lay it all out in this video. It's a course & coaching hybrid that will run from next Tuesday, Sept. 6 to Tuesday, Sept. 13. Of course it will be recorded, so you can watch and rewatch anytime, but there will be live teaching and feedback on your images.

Check out the video.

Join me for World Wide Photo Walk 2022!

World Wide Photo Walk returns after a two-year hiatus, and I’ll be leading a walk at Coney Island.

Join me for a photo walk that will be target right with cityscape, action, and street photography opportunities. We’ll meet at the station and weave our way through the park, down the board walk and back through the park. At the end, we can pick one of the nearby restaurants to grab a bit and continue networking.

I hope you can join me! Please register at the World Wide Photo Walk website.

If you struggle with portraits or don't feel comfortable photographing people, this Portrait Photography Primer is for you. I meet so many photographers who say they shoot only landscapes or inanimate object because photographing people makes you nervous or uncomfortable.

In this webinar, I am going to deconstruct the portrait photography process and give you tips on how you can create beautiful portraits with natural expressions.

If you can photograph people, it opens up so many photography opportunities. Join me to learn the principles of great portrait photography.

Scott Kelby shared a rare moment of honesty that you don’t usually hear from professional photographers. 

“Do you know how you can take better pictures? Go somewhere interesting!” he joked during a presentation at PhotoPlus Expo. “Do you see this photo?” he said of a spectacular sunset image. “I just showed up and pressed the button.”

Of course, Scott is simplifying his role quite a bit. He’s right that travel is a great way to create photographs, but it requires more than showing up and pushing a button. 

Join me for a free photo webinar — a comprehensive guide to creating great travel photographs and travel photography experiences. We'll discuss how you plan, create, share, and sell your travel photography.

If you’ve ever experienced your mouth watering, just because you were looking at a photo of a cold drink, you can thank people like Freddy Clark.

Beverage photography is a more challenging subset of food photography. Instagram overflows with photos from people snapshotting their meals, but when you want to set up a stylized shoot of a beverage in a glass or bottle, that’s a different level of effort. 

His path to beverage photography started when someone asked him to shoot some food for a local restaurant. There he found his calling! Because he was into craft beer, one rainy day he started photographing some bottles in his garage and the way forward was clear to him. Now he works for Beverage Brands, bars, and restaurants. He’s taught workshops on photography for Princeton Photo Workshops, Canon USA, and independently.

Join us on Monday, April 4 when Freddy shares his work and some of his techniques.

I walked by Frank and Scott three times before I stopped and asked to take their photo. The two tattoo artists were joking around outside a tattoo shop, and I had just started shooting street portraits for my 100 Strangers project.

More than 10 years later, I stopped counting but I’m sure I’ve passed 100. There was Mickey who makes a good living impersonating Ben Franklin; Rocky who was part of a 24-hour vigil outside the White House; Molly and Andrew on a first date; and the kid hugging his father’s tombstone in Arlington National Cemetery; and Paper Boy Prince, who just ran for Mayor of New York City.

I started cataloging my street portraits and thought this was a good time to talk about the whole street portrait genre.

If you’ve ever wondered about street portraits, I’ll share what I’ve learned so far. You’ll learn:

• How I decide who to approach;

• How I get them to relax quickly;

• The two questions that get my subjects to open up;

• Who is off limits vs. who is fair game.

Join me March 31 at 7 pm edt for a webinar where we dive into street portraits.

If you ever wondered about how to break into sports and action photography, this webinar will walk you through how to photograph sports and action events successfully.

We will about the tools/gear needed, settings for different scenarios, composing for drama, visual storytelling, and credentialing.

Over my career, I’ve photography football, basketball, and softball. This season I added hockey and wrestling and have additional insights on this sports.

I will even pull a few nuggets from my interview of Scott Kelby on his NFL sideline photography.

Let’s talk sports!