A Photographer Reflects on His 2012 Accomplishments

Clay Blackmore - 2012 no doubt was a great year…I’m even willing to say it was The Best Year Ever! To start 2013, what better way than to reflect on the great moments I encountered during the months of 2012. Please enjoy these 10 highlights.

Hightlight 1

I have never made so many Big Pictures! I guess it’s the new camera I'm working with! This is a fun image made in Montreal Canada during our Spring Tour, How to Photograph Everyone.

Highlight 2

It’s not business as usual these days. Our latest work that concluded 2012: business portraits and FILM for Foulger Pratt.

Hightlight 3

Mitzvahs Mitzvahs Mitzvahs…2012 was filled with fantastic events for our very special 13 year olds. Our December favorite has to be Avi Abrams. Oldest brother of 6, this boy is full of talent and grace.

Hightlight 4

It’s Back to School for some Serious Education. I found myself as an authority on Wedding and Children’s Photography at the New York Institute of Photography with the launch of two new publications. The first- Top Ten Secrets for Perfect Baby & Child Portraits. Education along with 90 illustrations to show that the proof is in the pudding.

Click to read more ...

Books for Photographers - 3 Novels We're Reading Now

Not every book with a photography theme has to have photographs in it. We're currently reading three novels that have intriguing connections to photography, without having to be in and of themselves "photo books."

Eight Girls Taking Pictures by Whitney Otto - A fantastic panorama of intersecting lives, cultures, and destinies, this confidently written novel paints an amazing picture of photography and feminism over the spread of the 20th century. Ms. Otto is an avid collector of photo books. "Photography is the ideal marriage of art and technology," she said recently, and her fascination with the medium shines through in her work.

The Photographer: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders is a graphic novel that combines photography with art. It's pretty incredible (see sample page below).

And then there's Night Zero. NZ isn't exactly a novel (they call it a "photographic novel"), and it's not in book form. It's an online serial that combines photography with a storyline; like a film, it's delivered in installments. And the subject is zombies and the post-apocalypse. Good times.

We're the New York Institute of Photography, a distance education school teaching photography since 1910 - over 100 years of knowledge and experience. Listen to the following podcast to learn more about who we are and what we do. WHAT IS THE NEW YORK INSTITUTE OF PHOTOGRAPHY? [20:58M]