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Above: Image by Gina Milicia

I read a lot of emails and social media posts from discouraged newbie photographers about how crowded the photography market is and how hard it is to get a break. Sadly it’s true. It’s jam-packed at the entry-level.

Everyone and their dog is a photographer these days.

So why the increase? I blame the Oxford dictionary and all the other dictionaries for this new phenomena.

The Oxford dictionary defines a photographer as follows:

Photographer A person who takes photographs, especially as a job. This means that anyone who takes photos is a photographer – it doesn’t need to be a job – that’s a bonus.

So anyone with a smartphone that photographs their lunch or takes selfies showing off their six-pack #blessed is a photographer, right? Well, no wonder there are so many more photographers in the world today. It’s never been easier to become one. Anyone with a camera is a photographer.

Yesterday my dog knocked my phone, and it accidentally took a photo. My dog is also a photographer.

The girl I sat next . . .

“The greatest fear in the world is the opinion of others, and the moment you are unafraid of the crowd, you are no longer a sheep, you become a lion. A great roar arises in your heart, the roar of freedom.” —Osho

I love this hidden feature in Photoshop.

Next time you are retouching an image and want to rotate your canvas temporarily hit “R” on the keyboard.

To select tool hit “R” on the keyboard or select the rotate tool (it’s located under the hand tool).

Place tool cursor in the image window and click mouse.

Move the cursor clockwise (or anticlockwise) to rotate the canvas.

Hit ESC to revert back to the original view.

“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” —Jimmy Johnson

There was this guy I went to high school with, his name was Tony Facciousa (not his real name). Tony was the kind of guy that when he walked into a room, everybody noticed. There was something about him that made everyone look twice, he had the X-Factor.

The X Factor is difficult to define. It’s a combination of lots of little things that gave Tony Facciousa The X Factor. The way he walked, the tone of his voice, the lazy smile, the clothes he wore and the fact that he always had this air of quiet confidence that only someone comfortable in their own skin can pull off.

Tony made quite an impression on me, so much so that whenever I shoot a portrait, I like to implement what I now call the ‘Tony protocol’.

The Tony protocol helps me create intriguing portraits. I want the people I photograph to look like they’re really comfortable in their own skin and I want all my pictures to have Tony Franciosa X Factor.

The Tony protocol . . .

Above: Image by Gina Milicia

“You don’t have to be good to start … you just have to start to be good!”  ― Joe Sabah  

“Once you’ve mastered starting and stopping, the rest is easy.”  ― Marty Rubin

“The beginning is always NOW.”  ― Roy Bennett

“If I must start somewhere, right here and now is the best place imaginable.”  ― Richelle E. Goodrich

“I had as many doubts as anyone else. Standing on the starting line, we’re all cowards.”  ― Alberto Salazar

Above: Image by Gina Milicia

“Trust the process. Your time is coming. Just do the work and the results will handle themselves.” –Tony Gaskins

There are some things you just don’t notice because they happen so slowly like fingernails growing, the earth spinning or the 6 extra kilos I smuggle home on my thighs every time I travel to Italy.

I just wake up one day and notice my nails are long, it’s the next day, or my favourite jeans don’t fit anymore.

It always feels like these things just happen overnight, but it’s a slow and gradual process, much like developing your style as an artist.

Is your work evolving quickly enough?

Many artists I speak to get frustrated by the fact that they feel like their work is not evolving quickly enough, or not at all. The reality is, if you’re doing something towards achieving your goals consistently, there will be positive growth.

The two extra cannoli I ate on the first day of my Sicily trip had zero impact, but if I do this every day for 3 weeks, there is . . .

Above: Image by Henri Cartier-Bresson

“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson