Photouristic

Use Pinterest as a Planning Tool for Your Photography

Lyuda Polyun — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 19:27:03 +0000

These days everybody is using Pinterest. And if you are not using it with a goal in mind, you can be spending a lot of time on the site with little accomplished. There are so many ways to use the platform depending on your interests, and if you are a photographer you can really take advantage of what it has to offer.

These are some of the ideas I am currently using Pinterest:

Create a Pinterest board of images from your blog

This is a great way to have your blog images displayed in one place. There are pros and cons to doing this. On one hand you can reach a bigger audience, a lot more people get to see your photographs. However, despite getting a lot of traffic to the images, and seeing them repined over a hundred times I do not see any traffic increase to my blog. So if you do not mind sharing your pictures with the world this is an option.

Inspirations for a photo shoot

This is a fantastic way to use Pinterest. When getting ready for a photo shoot, I usually scour the web looking for the ideas, and this is a great way to capture them all in one place.

Storing location ideas

A way to remember locations for photo shoots, or locations for future travel plans.

Design Ideas

I am always on a lookout for ideas on how to better present my work: design ideas for business cards, CD cases, logos, web design. You can save all the interesting snippets here to come back for review.

General inspiration and mood boards

Possibilities are endless here. From web snippets to inspirational photography you can customize the way you plan, design and create.

In which ways do you use Pinterest?

Yellowstone Pools

Lyuda Polyun — Thu, 31 May 2012 21:25:05 +0000

Some of the most fascinating places of the Yellowstone are the acid pools. Alien by their environment and bacteria they are beautiful and unique examples of what the nature has to offer at the park.

New Photography Challenge: Taking Pictures of the Old Signs

Lyuda Polyun — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:57:02 +0000

Once you have been taking pictures for a while you get into a routine and take the same pictures, of the same subjects, all the time. It is very beneficial to make yourself find a theme you have never tried before. It turns out I do not have any pictures of the old signs. They are everywhere, on the streets, in the magazines, adds, photo books, and I never saw them as subjects. I decided to try and find a couple; and now I notice them every time. Here is what I have found.

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

Lyuda Polyun — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:50:49 +0000

Visiting the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is usually the first item on the “to see” list when planning a trip to Big Island, HI. Here are just a few quick tips on making the most of the trip.

Get there early! The park itself is enormous, with the hiking trails down to the caldera (Kilauea Iki Trail), lava tubes, museum and the actual visit to the volcano at the end of the day.

Have your hiking boots on! If you are not used to it, it might feel unusual packing hiking boots to the beach vacation, considering the limited amount of space in your luggage, but this one is a must. When walking on a lot of lava rocks, or the toasty lava field you will be thankful for having them with you.

All travel guides agree that you need a flashlight. If you forget yours, you can buy one at the park shops or at the entrance to the volcano trail.

This is the closest we could get to see the volcano (picture was taken with a telephoto zoom lens). Lava plummeting into the ocean. Breathtaking view! We watched it for a couple of hours until it got dark and used flashlights to navigate the frozen lava field back to the parking lot.

Taking Pictures of Churches in Ukraine

Lyuda Polyun — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:36:47 +0000

Happy Easter everyone! This time of year reminds me of the beautiful churches in Ukraine. If you’re ever in that part of the world a visit to a local church will provide some great photo opportunities.