Do you sometimes find yourself with a bit of a mind blank and need a little help getting your brain moving? Well, when we were trying to figure out how many ways there were to make money through photography, the usual suspects were quickly mentioned ….. then ….. mind blank! Well, we stumbled on a YouTube video by Sorelle Amore which was really cool and we wanted to share it with you. Check out her list of ideas below and you can watch her full video where she goes into more details on some of these ideas by clicking here.  

Clearly there are endless ways to make money through photography and hopefully, this gave your brain a little jolt so you can find the right way for you.

You are a wedding photographer, or perhaps you are not but you have experienced working with one at your own wedding. Whichever the case, you happen to be familiar with the qualities required to capture and immortalise a couple’s BIG day with a camera: an understanding of the newlyweds personal style, finalising choices, planning details, surprises… you get the picture (pun intended).




Now let’s imagine what a royal wedding day takes out of a photographer!  

Hugo Burnand and Alexi Lubomirski were chosen, respectively, to shoot the official wedding photographs of Prince William and Kate and Prince Harry and Meghan. For these two photographers whose journey to professional stardom was a bit different and often continents away, meeting the two royal couples too happened in very different circumstances. What they do share, obviously, is a passion for their art doubled with a talent for organisation and a special sensitivity to what must be done to make their subjects, of all ranks and all ages, model-like naturals.

Hugo Burnand first met William in 2005 while on another official wedding shot, that of Prince Charles’ and Camilla’s. As he became a familiar of the Prince of Wales’ and his family, it did not come too much as a surprise when Prince William picked him for his own official wedding pictures.

"HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton have selected Hugo Burnand to be their official photographer at their wedding on the 29^th April. Mr Burnand will be taking the official photographs at Buckingham Palace following the wedding at Westminster Abbey."

Alexi Lubomirski had never met Harry or Meghan before they made their engagement official. In fact, they found him on Instagram! Quite a celebrity himself, Lubomirsky who worked with Mario Testino for four years has established his name within the fashion industry with magazines such as FACE, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. He has also become a photographer of the stars and yet, this is not how he came to know Meghan. Having made contact, Harry and Meghan hired Lubomirski to take pictures of their engagement and the relationship led to him taking the couple’s wedding shots at Windsor.

Planning & Organisation

Official royal wedding family portraits are taken inside the palace and less than half an hour can be allocated to the whole photo shoot. Preparing for those events, photographers have only a few days to plan the setting up of their equipment and practise their shots. Burnand recalls that he and his team virtually made the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace their home for a few days!                                                                                                        
Lubomirski too planned everything to details and explained this in an interview with CBS: “I like to plan as much as possible so that if anything goes wrong I can go back to those base plans”. The unknown, for both photographers, was the children.

Equipment

There is a huge amount of equipment involved (with lots of spares) especially when it comes to controlling the ideal lighting conditions. Burnand wanted the light to reflect a spring day, no matter what the unpredictable weather would be outside. To achieve the perfect light, they had to take into account not only windows, but every reflective element in the room, and this of course, without changing anything. 

Lubomirski in the Green Drawing Room at Windsor Castle wanted to avoid regimented and linear photos. Again lighting had to play a major part to bring out all the efforts put into the placing of every family member, bridegrooms and bridesmaids to look easy going and natural.

Schedule, Schedule, Schedule

Royal weddings operate like clockwork at every stage of the occasion throughout the whole day.

Both photographers remember how they and their teams had to respect a meticulous time-keeping. Burnand even organised rehearsals with stopwatches!

Lobomirski practised making sure he would take the six setups planned within the 25 minutes allocated. Talking about the famous black and white intimate portrait of Harry and Meghan sitting on the stairs, he revealed that he only had just over three minutes to take some quick shots. The precious time when you think that the picture received more than two million likes on Instagram!

Ready for everything, even Bribery

Royal photographers do not leave anything unprepared. They practice for everything; they think about anything that could happen. Children, however, royal or not, remain the unknown factor and with them, anything can happen; this is why these two photographers resorted shamelessly to bribery with jelly beans and Smarties.

Lobomirski explains that although you have to work within certain boundaries, and if you want to make it interesting and not regimented, Smarties are probably the smartest way to get both children and even the Queen to smile.

Something for all Photographers

I’d like to share this statement Alexi Lobomirski made after the royal wedding:

"It has been an incredible honour and privilege to document The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's inspiring journey of love, hope and family; from the engagement photos, all the way through to the official wedding and family portraits on Saturday. This has been a beautiful chapter in my career and life, that I will happily never forget."

You may not be a royal photographer but feelings such as those are definitely universal.

Note: Burnand and his team photographed Gabriella Windsor’s wedding on May 18^th.

Video of Burnand working:  Vimeo

Lubomirski shot this photo of just the newlyweds on the East Terrace of Windsor Castle after their wedding.

This post will take us away from our usual photographic interests, as I hope it will. Indeed, why limit our field when we can adjust our focus to the universe? That’s what astronauts do who take pictures of their amazing space adventure. Unlike astronaut photographer Don Pettit, these intrepid scientists are not usually familiar with sophisticated camera equipment and have to contend in space with most of the challenges we encounter on our home planet, and more. So here is a brief account on those photographers of exception and where we can find their pictures and indulge in letting our mind travel in space.

Astronauts Taking Pictures

Back at the beginning of space travel history (yes 20^th century), Soviet scientists were the pioneers but most photos were taken on the ground and often than not edited for propaganda while pictures in space were shot by automated cameras fitted on the capsule. The first pictures taken in outer space were taken in 1961, sadly not by Yuri Gagarin (there was no room on board for a camera or any extra weight) nor by American astronauts Alan Shepard or Gus Grissom who flew on the same year. 
The first in-space photographer was 25 years old Gherman Titov on board Vostok 2 who, on August 6^th 1961, orbited the Earth 17 times to study the effects of a prolonged period of weightlessness on the human body – it made him sick.                                                                   
Titov’s camera was a 35mm Konvas movie camera; you can see some of the photos that were part of a 2011 exhibition in Moscow here.

Here is what he said of his visual experience:

“It was strange to have a black dome above me and our earthly blue sky below. The Earth flashed as a multi-faceted gem, an extraordinary array of vivid hues that were strangely gentle in their play across the receding surface of the world…framed in a brilliant, radiant border. The colours were extraordinary—vivid, yet tender—and the light streaming through the cabin carried a strange shade as if it were filtered through stained glass.”

Another astronaut, NASA Commander Terry Virts also tells us how he “learned to see the Earth in terms of colours”: He knew he was over Canada (during winter) if he saw “nothing but white”; the Bahamas a “large turquoise pattern”. Virts is also a National Geographic photographer and author (View From Above – foreword by Buzz Aldrin). See Virts photos at https://terryvirts.com/

So what is it like to be at the International Space Station, travelling a mere 17,000 miles per hour and
taking pictures of what you see outside?  We can guess that the vantage point should be 1^st class, yet how to deal with gravitational effects on your senses, extreme brightness or pitch darkness when the rules of photography still apply? Ask NASA astronaut photographer Don Pettit who has also become a speaker on the subject. 

His book, "Spaceborne" was published by Press Syndication Group, 2016 and you can see some of his amazing work at space.com

Chris Hadfield is another astronaut who shares his experience shooting from the International Space Station on a video by Big Think which lasts 5 minutes. See more here.

Here is what he says: 

“You don’t always get it right, I mean, the National Geographic photographers — they take thousands of pictures for everyone that makes it into the magazine. Same for us. But the world is a very generous photography subject and you have the best tripod in existence, so it’s a great place to take pictures.”

Hadfield took some 45,000 photos; he picked 150 to share with the world in his book Around the World in 92 Minutes.

It just wouldn’t be right to not mention the most famous and unique out of space shot taken on July 20^th 1969 by Buzz Aldrin; the only full-body photograph of Neil Armstong on the moon. Armstrong was the one holding the 70-millimetre Hasselblad for most of the Apollo 11 lunar expedition somewhere in the Sea of Tranquility; fortunately, Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon did manage to take this amazing shot. On this picture of Armstrong, his face cannot be seen; instead, the reflection on his visor has immortalized the man who stepped on the moon right behind him who was taking the shot!

For the entire collection of photos taken by Apollo astronauts, you can visit The Project Apollo Archive at flickr.

For amazing pictures taken by astronauts check out HongKiat.