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Photography and Photographs.
How to get ATTENTION!

One sure way to get someone's attention is through an image or photograph. A website would probably fare far better with some eye-catching photos. It doesn't matter what kind of website your business has, if your website did not have some color and graphics, you would likely alienate most of the people who reached your site. Why? A picture is worth a thousand words. Yes, everyone has heard that saying before. But it is completely true and accurate.

 

Today's technology enables a great photographer to achieve ever greater results. One example is this photograph that I came across of Michael Jordan. Impact Digital presented a challenge of digitally applying Spike Lee’s tattoo to Michael Jordan’s skin. The 7th Art accepted the challenge; was given six weeks to do it; and conquered it in six days. Their secret? Exceptional photography, attention to detail, and lots and lots of skill. The ability to alter photographs and images is probably harder than capturing a high quality image initially.

Altering an image can me a relatively simple task or a completely time consuming and complex task. Here is an example of another photograph that was altered for a friend. As you can see on the left side, the lady's head is interfering with the cuteness of the boy. A few simple edits and I was able to remove the lady's face from the image. As you can see from the image on the right, I was able to crop her face out and replace it with another portion of the photo.

Photography is an art. Editing photography is a skill that takes an enormous amount of time. As stated above, the Michael Jordan photo took six days of editing to accomplish the final result. I can appreciate such work because I have spent hours and hours on end editing images. Part of marketing is getting your point across, many times through a photo and not just with words.

 

Creating a company logo requires the same skill and talent as modifying an image. Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Fireworks are the two most widely used programs for accomplishing these type of tasks. I have been using Adobe Photoshop to create, alter, and edit images for almost a decade. I think Adobe Photoshop is much more user friendly than Macromedia Fireworks for image modification.

Google is a great source to find images. A photo can be protected by copyright. There are actually laws that protect the unauthorized use of photographs on the Internet. You cannot just borrow or take someone else's work and reuse it. As you noticed above, I have cited the source where the Michael Jordan image came from.

When creating a website, you should use your ALT tags. ALT tags provide search engines, like Google, with a description of what is being shown in the photograph. These tags provide additional information so that the search engine's have a better idea of the information contained on each page. If you even notice, when you hold your cursor over an image without clicking, the description will appear on the page.

Graphic design and graphic art is another term to describe what can be accomplished with significant time, skill, and patience. This artistic image above is a perfect example of thinking outside of the box. To be creative enough to think about taking the Microsoft Windows logo and crushing it into the Google Chrome logo, was brilliant. A great graphic designer is able to use a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation. Being an artist requires constant imagination, visualization, and creativity. Wikipedia defines art as: The process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions.

Google Doodles are another example of graphic art that is innovative and creative.

With the permission of Keri Wharton, I have put this photograph of the pumpkin she designed and carved for Halloween. Which is more bad ass? The pumpkin design or the actual photograph itself. I touched up the image with Adobe Photoshop to give it a slightly cleaner look. Good photography is many times spontaneous and not of things that would. How do I know Kari Wharton? I don't really know her. Not yet anyway. It actually a funny story about networking in the places you least expect it. I guess I should correct myself and say that it was in a place you most expect it, but in a way you would least expect it.

I gave her a poke on Facebook. Kari Wharton is a friend of Jeff Hertzog, a mutual friend many miles away, and I just poked her. Who knows where the networking may or may not lead. Anyway, check out this next photo. I will write more later, I have some friends over. But I am happy she poked me back. I am pretty sure that even though Keri Wharton lives in Pennsylvania, she has no relation to the Wharton University of Pennsylvania. I don't know if we will be able to get to know each other better, that is entirely up to her.

 

Isaac McNair took this photo, I found it on his Facebook page. He has no relation to Steve McNair. It is another bad ass photograph. Photography can be so creative, when you think outside the box. Isaac McNair is in the Marines. Isaac and Eric Moreno are close friends. They have been friends ever since I can remember. Isaac McNair is a really funny kid. I respect both Eric Moreno and Isaac for serving their country.

This photograph is a picture I found on Suellen Fry's Facebook page. It looks like a combination of orbs, stars, and snow flakes. A definite unique original photograph that is phenomenal. Suellen Fry has a blog that I helped her with called "The Queen of Content." Suellen has become quite a friend and asset in many ways. The website content she has written for me is already starting to pay off, and at one point early in our friendship, she was willing to help me with something most people would not want to get involved with. Both Keri Wharton and Suellen Fry have completely different personalities but are both wonderful women. Once again, excellent photography is many times unplanned and spontaneous. Keri Wharton, Isaac McNair, Katie Gould, and Suellen Fry's photographs demonstrate that. We should reach the TOP 10 on Google for photography in the near future. Content is key, even for photography.

A critical element to great photography is spontaneity. Katie Gould's photograph below is a perfect example of a spur of the moment photograph that captures your attention. This is just a portion of the larger picture, but this gives you the idea and notion that you just cannot 'plan' great photography. This scene with the amazing number of boats couldn't be recreated. You just have to be at the right place at the right time with a camera to capture the moment. Katie Gould has many more excellent photographs that grabbed my attention. Keep up the great work Katie Gould, not everyone can work a camera.

The most recent addition to this photgraphy collection is a photo that Josh Brochhausen posted on Kevin McConnell's Facebook wall. Upon seeing the picture and the caption Josh Brochhausen posted that said, "Grill Pimps", I immediate saw an opportunity to expand on this idea. Here is the modified photo that I spent an hour in Photoshop "pimping". The props are what make this photography opportunity an immediate success.

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