June 2017

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” – Ansel Adams
“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” – Ansel Adams
June 26, 2017 In Blog No Comment

Above: St Lucia, Caribbean, photographed on Canon 5D MK111 and 24-105mm lens

fluke [flook] noun

unlikely chance occurrence, especially a surprising piece of luck. “their triumph was no fluke”

How to take a great photo 101

Some of my best images that I’ve shot over the last 30 years have been complete flukes. I happened to be in the right place at the right time.  

A portrait of a young boy peering out the back of a vintage Fiat 500 as he drove past me in a tiny village in Sicily was a complete fluke.

So was the image I photographed of the city of Dubai breaking through low cloud cover at dawn. Right place, right time.

Two elderly ladies, walking in the rain, wearing matching outfits in the streets of Madrid was another fluke, a gift from the photo Gods. #blessed

Many photographers spend their lives relying on the photo Gods to give them these amazing opportunities, and if you’ve been shooting for long enough, you will photograph several of these amazing moments.

The photo Gods don’t discriminate, these opportunities are available to everyone regardless of skill level or gear, and sometimes they can appear . . .

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Ep 145: Snapshot: How to blog as a photographer
Ep 145: Snapshot: How to blog as a photographer
June 19, 2017 In Podcast No Comment

As photographers, it can be easy to think that your pictures should speak for themselves. Well, that’s only true some of the time. If you want to use blogging to attract more clients, then you need an effective blogging strategy.

In this episode, Gina and Valerie discuss what the purpose of your blog is and the essential steps that you need to take in order to blog effectively. They outline why the text you include is sometimes just as important as the images.

Gina and Valerie love bringing this podcast to you.

Ask your questions at news@ginamilicia.com

Hope you enjoy the podcast.

Sign up to the newsletter for great tips and free Lightroom presets.

Join the dynamic Gold Membership in our Community which delivers monthly tutorials, live mastermind and lots of behind the scenes videos into the creative process.

Click play to listen to the podcast or find it on iTunes here. If you don’t use iTunes you can get the feed here, or listen to us on Stitcher radio.

Show notes

Depends on the purpose of your . . .

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Wise Words: What are you looking at when you see an image?
Wise Words: What are you looking at when you see an image?
June 15, 2017 In Blog 1 Comment

“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”  Ernst Haas

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Ep 144: How to get paid to shoot what you love with special guest Christina Force
Ep 144: How to get paid to shoot what you love with special guest Christina Force
June 15, 2017 In Podcast 1 Comment

We interview Christina Force, a New Zealand based photo-consultant who works with photographers and agents worldwide. We chat to her about what it really takes to make a great portfolio that will get you the work you want – and much more.

Gina and Valerie love bringing this podcast to you.

Hope you enjoy the podcast.

Sign up to the newsletter for great tips and free Lightroom presets.

Join the dynamic Gold Membership in our Community which delivers monthly tutorials, live mastermind and lots of behind the scenes videos into the creative process.  

#ginachallenge #authentic

Click play to listen to the podcast or find it on iTunes here. If you don’t use iTunes you can get the feed here, or listen to us on Stitcher radio.

Show notes Christina Force

Bio Ex-photo rep and production company founder, Christina Force is a New Zealand based photo-consultant who works with photographers and agents worldwide. Her online mentoring programmes help photographers anywhere rediscover their passion and promote their best work to targeted clients.

Christina has been a guest speaker at many . . .

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How much are your photos worth?
How much are your photos worth?
June 12, 2017 In Blog 1 Comment

Above: Image Gina Milicia

Have you ever stopped to calculate how much your photos are worth?

I did a quick calculation of some of my faves over the years and did the maths… divide by four, carry the three, add a zero, equals – priceless. Yep, I know I now sound like I’m full of myself but I believe my best images are priceless.

Most of these images have only been seen by a handful of people. Technically most of these photos suck but I still rate them. Some have been framed so I can look at them every day. The rest are stuck to the fridge or pinned to the wall above my desk. You probably have similar images around your place right? Snapshots of pets and family members or favourite holiday destinations.

Up until the year 2000 I have dozens of photo albums filled with photos, snaps, memories. After 2000 I started shooting digital. I’ve taken more photos in the last 10 years than I’ve shot in my entire life and yet the section on my wall, fridge and photo album that covers 2007 to 2017 is looking rather empty. Life was still happening, moments . . .

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Ep 143: Bad habits every photographer should ditch today – do you make them?
Ep 143: Bad habits every photographer should ditch today – do you make them?
June 8, 2017 In Podcast No Comment

Over time, we can slip into some bad habits. Photography bad habits that is. And they can hold us back. In this episode, Gina and Valerie discuss some bad habits and how to get over them. Do you recognise any in yourself?

Gina and Valerie love bringing this podcast to you.

Hope you enjoy the podcast.

Sign up to the newsletter for great tips and free Lightroom presets.

Join the dynamic Gold Membership in our Community which delivers monthly tutorials, live mastermind and lots of behind the scenes videos into the creative process.  

#ginachallenge #badhabits

Click play to listen to the podcast or find it on iTunes here. If you don’t use iTunes you can get the feed here, or listen to us on Stitcher radio.

Show notes

Bad habit: Take vs make a photo

Bad habit: Shooting on auto

Bad habit: Shooting on auto pilot

Taking snaps without planning or pre visualising

Get involved, move stuff, make stuff look good Direct models Work on emotions Move bins Fix clothes Style Add props

Bad habit: Poor file . . .

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Ep 142: Snapshot: Senior/teen portrait ideas and low light photography
Ep 142: Snapshot: Senior/teen portrait ideas and low light photography
June 1, 2017 In Podcast No Comment

 

There is a great market in senior portraits – for Aussies, this doesn’t mean elderly people, in the US it’s a thing. Portraits of high school seniors!

In this minisode, Gina and Valerie discuss some great strategies on taking cool senior portraits. And they also look at … afterbirth! No just kidding. Not actual afterbirth – but taking family shots after a baby is born. Gina and Valerie love bringing this podcast to you.

Ask your questions at news@ginamilicia.com

Hope you enjoy the podcast.

Sign up to the newsletter for great tips and free Lightroom presets.

Join the dynamic Gold Membership in our Community which delivers monthly tutorials, live mastermind and lots of behind the scenes videos into the creative process.

Click play to listen to the podcast or find it on iTunes here. If you don’t use iTunes you can get the feed here, or listen to us on Stitcher radio.

Show notes

Kcaarin Pineau asks:

I have had some people approach me about doing senior portraits for their sons. I have some creative live classes . . .

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West Mambalam, Tamil Nadu, India
Taxi driver #Mumbai #fujix100f

#Fujifilmx_au #Fujifilm#fujifilm_xseries#fujinon #fujixseries#Fujifilmxseries 
#x100f #fujix100f #fujifilm#fujifilm_xseries#fujifilm_street#storyofthestreet#streetphotography#ig_street #fujifeed #fujiframez#fujilove #ig#portraitphotography#photooftheday l #portraiture#portraitmood #instagood

Want to improve your photography? I'd love to work with you. Check out my Gold Membership, I've created hundreds of tutorials which share all my lighting, posing and editing techniques. We also have a members forum, video photo critiques each month and a live "Ask me anything” Link in bio
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Chennai, India
Holy man #Chennai #Fujix100f “Fate gives all of us three teachers, three friends, three enemies, and three great loves in our lives. But these twelve are always disguised, and we can never know which one is which until we've loved them, left them, or fought them.” #Fujifilmx_au #Fujifilm#fujifilm_xseries#fujinon #fujixseries#Fujifilmxseries 
#x100f #fujix100f #fujifilm#fujifilm_xseries#fujifilm_street#storyofthestreet#streetphotography#ig_street #fujifeed #portraiture
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Mumbai Gate of India
Birdman #Mumbai #Fujix100f
Spotted this man guarding the side entrance to The Gateway of Mumbai monument in Colaba. This is “The St Marks Square” of Mumbai and the Birdman looks after the two million pigeons that happily pose
for photos with the visitors.
This is a big job, some of these pigeons have been spoiled by their Instagram fame. They can be divas, no wonder he looks so stressed.
Thank you Birdman, we need more people like you in the world.
#Fujifilmx_au #Fujifilm#fujifilm_xseries#fujinon #fujixseries#Fujifilmxseries 
#x100f #fujix100f #fujifilm#fujifilm_xseries#fujifilm_street#storyofthestreet#streetphotography#ig_street #fujifeed #instagood

Want to improve your photography? I'd love to work with you. Check out my Gold Membership, I've created hundreds of tutorials which share all my lighting, posing and editing techniques. We also have a members forum, video photo critiques each month and a live "Ask me anything” Link in bio
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Seminyak, Bali
📷Fuji x100f Beach Boxer Bali
“Fear doesn’t go away. The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day.” – Steven Pressfield 🙏

This week on the podcast @valeriekhoo and I chat about the 5 things every photographer must know. This has nothing to do with gear and everything to do with your mindset.

Oh and if you’re interested in learning how to shoot with fill flash I have a few spots available to my May Sicily portrait workshop.
6 Days
Intensive lighting, directing and post production
LINK IN BIO
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Brighton Baths Health Club
“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” Samuel Ullman

I had the most inspiring day photographing members of the Brighton Baths Icebergers. These men and women, mostly over 50, enjoy a dawn and early morning ritual of bathing in the last remaining sea pool in Port Phillip Bay.
In winter the water temperature is close to freezing and the Icebergers are hooked on the benefits to both body and mind.

One thing I noticed in all the swimmers I photographed was a sense of joy and a positive energy. This is Jan, she is 79 years young and has been open water swimming for 30+ years, and is a regular winter swimmer.
Want to improve your photography?
Sign up to my newsletter for free tips and techniques.
Listen to my podcast or sign up for mentoring Check out my Gold Membership, I've created hundreds of tutorials which share all my lighting, posing and editing techniques. We also have a members forum, video photo critiques each month and a live "Ask me anything” LINK IN BIO
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Bright, Victoria
Fujix100F + Speedlight and Gary Fong “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” ― Rob Siltanen

I spent my childhood feeling like a misfit and then I went to art school and found “my people”
Artists spend their lives seeing and feeling things the rest of the world ignore. I think we are the sane ones and the rest of the world is crazy.
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Bali, Indonesia
FUJI X100F “A lot of photographers think that if they buy a better camera they’ll be able to take better photographs. A better camera won’t do a thing for you if you don’t have anything in your head or in your heart.” ―Arnold Newman

Ep 232 of my podcast with the amazing @valeriekhoo is out. eady to start a photography business? Here are some common mistakes to avoid.

Giving up your day job.
Quitting too soon
Ignoring social media
Only relying on social media
Placing all your eggs in one basket
Poor training and mentorship (learn how to shoot, how to charge etc)
Charging too little
Investing in gear too early
No networking skills
No basic business skills (TAX, insurance, contracts, cashflow)
Lack of Editing and workflow knowledge
A business name that nobody can remember or find.

#Fujifilmx_au #Fujifilm#fujifilm_xseries#fujinon #fujixseries#Fujifilmxseries
#x100f #fujix100f #fujifilm#fujifilm_xseries#fujifilm_street#storyofthestreet#streetphotography#ig_street #fujifeed #fujiframez#fujilove #ig#portraitphotography#photooftheday l #portraiture#portraitmood #instagood
#balitravel
Want to improve your photography?
Sign up to my newsletter for free tips and techniques.
Listen to my podcast or sign up for mentoring Check out my Gold Membership, I've created hundreds of tutorials which share all my lighting, posing and editing techniques. We also have a members forum, video photo critiques each month and a live "Ask me anything” LINK IN BIO
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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Fuji x100F
“When you buy something from an artist you are buying more than an object. You’re buying hundreds of hours of errors and experimentation. You’re buying years of frustration and moments of pure joy. You’re not buying just one thing, you are buying a piece of a heart, a piece of a soul… a piece of someone else’s life.” –Rebekah Joy Plett

#Fujifilmx_au #Fujifilm#fujifilm_xseries#fujinon #fujixseries#Fujifilmxseries
#x100f #fujix100f #fujifilm#fujifilm_xseries#fujifilm_street#storyofthestreet#streetphotography#ig_street #fujifeed #fujiframez#fujilove #ig#portraitphotography#photooftheday l #portraiture#portraitmood #instagood
#BW #bw_addiction
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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Fuji x100f “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” –Henry Ford
Having the WRONG mindset will undermine more photo opportunities than upgrading to the best lens and camera combo will ever give you.
How many times have you seen a fantastic photo opportunity and then talked yourself out of it because you believed the dribble your inner voice is saying to you?
How many times have you passed on an opportunity because you thought you weren’t ready?
How many times has a fear of failure OR ridicule stopped you from trying something new?
“Fear kills more dreams than failure ever will.” –Suzy Kassem
The great thing about changing your mindset is that you can do it right now. You can decide at this moment that you want to shoot in manual mode, use off camera flash or start a photography business. The only thing stopping you is you.
There are a million different ways you can fail at achieving your goals and a million different ways you can succeed, but it’s pointless focusing on negative thoughts.
This is the dribble your mind tells you to keep you small. To keep you safe. To prevent you from succeeding. It’s a hangover from your caveman brain that needed to manage risk, so you didn’t leave the cave and get eaten by a dinosaur.
So next time a negative thought comes up, ask yourself these questions:
“Am I in danger of being eaten by a dinosaur if I do this?”
“Will shooting in manual mode, asking a stranger to photograph them or attempting off-camera flash jeopardize the safety of my family?”
If the answer is no, then take the leap. Say “yes” to the opportunity. Share your work, take the class, ask the question.
Switch your thinking, instead of “what if I fail?” ask yourself “what if I succeed?” Changing your mindset and attitude is the best upgrade you’ll ever make.
Success and failure begin in your mind.
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Nusa Penida Island
Seaweed fisherman, Bali #Fujix100f
#Fujifilmx_au #Fujifilm#fujifilm_xseries#fujinon #fujixseries#Fujifilmxseries 
#x100f #fujix100f #fujifilm#fujifilm_xseries#fujifilm_street#storyofthestreet#streetphotography#ig_street #fujifeed #fujiframez#fujilove #ig#portraitphotography#photooftheday l #portraiture#portraitmood #instagood

There are three elements to a great portrait: light, subject and location.
Which is more important? Let me put it this way: if light, subject and location played paper, scissors, rock; light would always win.
Why? A beautiful subject in an awesome location can be ruined by poor light. So when you’re organizing a shoot, looking for good light should be the first thing you do.
The results you can achieve shooting in natural light can be incredible, but natural light is fickle. It will never look the same twice. To find yourself with a spectacular background and great light is incredibly rare so if you can recreate the beauty of natural light, you can create a beautiful photo anywhere.

Want to improve your photography? I'd love to work with you. Check out my Gold Membership, I've created hundreds of tutorials which share all my lighting, posing and editing techniques. We also have a members forum, video photo critiques each month and a live "Ask me anything”
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South Africa
Boy with bible #SouthAfrica #canon5DMK4
“No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible”
Spotted this beautiful boy outside a church just near Soweto. This is one of my favourite portraits of the trip so far far and is par of my ongoing series of environmental portraits from locations allover the world.
If starting a personal project is something you might be interested in starting then do check out EP 230 of my podcast with uber talented curator, artist and writer @valeriekhoo.
This week Valerie and I chat with photographer Craig Wetjen, an award-winning professional photographic artist and a best-selling author with 33 years in the photography industry. Craig started his photographic career shooting for local newspapers in Connecticut, USA. He went on to work for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory before moving to Australia where in he established Melbourne’s RMIT University’s first digital imaging subject.
Craig’s published a book in 2016 titled “Men and Their Sheds” which, just after 3 months on the selves became a best-selling book. He documented 101 men and their relationship the shed has to his physical and mental health.

Just look for “So you want to be a photographer” on ITunes
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Or if you don’t have ITUNES listen here ~> https://ginamilicia.com/category/podcast/
Oh and thanks to everyone who has been sharing the show on social media, rating and reviewing on iTunes. You guys rock. BIG TIME!!
Want to improve your photography? I'd love to work with you. Check out my Gold Membership, I've created hundreds of tutorials which share all my lighting, posing and editing techniques. We also have a members forum, video photo critiques each month and a live "Ask me anything" --> https://ginamilicia.com/join-the-community/

#Canon #canonaustralia
e#ig#portraitphotography#photooftheday l #portraiture#portraitmood #instagood
#streetclassics #canon5dmarkiv #passionpassport #myfeatureshoot#artofvisuals #peoplescreatives
#colour #composition #exposure#focus #moment #photo #photogra


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