Robyn Mayne tipped me off via Twitter to this wonderful video that you must watch. Do you ask yourselves WHY you photograph? Does your photography make a difference in people's lives? What is your take on all of this? Well, tell me in the comments below AFTER you have watched this video of about Jen Lemen.

Jen Lemen shares the the 2010 Name Your Dream Assignment Award with Stephanie C. Roberts for their project Picture Hope. You may also want to order their book, Expressive Photography: The Shutter Sisters' Guide to Shooting from the Heart.

This is a guest post by Knoxville, Tennessee wedding photographer Shannon Kelley who has set up a successful photography community. She can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

Back in January of this year, after attending a Dane Sanders workshop, I made a commitment to find community. Not online or Facebook friends, but real live community.

You see, it is so easy for me to sit behind a computer, chat on Facebook with some clients and other photographers, post some blog posts, read some others and think that that is enough. But I knew that I was missing something, local support and community. So I started doing things, little things. And I ended up shocked. Shocked to find many other photographers that were craving the same thing. Photographers who were supportive and nice. And who wanted to get together and just chat about life and photos.

Five months later and lots of those little steps, Knoxville now has a community co-op studio that my friend and I run, a Facebook group of 250+, monthly shootouts, SMUG's, and best of all, we all have the support of one another! It has been such an amazing thing to witness and be part of. I had no idea how reaching out and embracing local photographers would change my whole sense of who I am as a photographer.

My challenge to you: Leave your desk and computer screen in this next week for a real life connection. Reach out, don't get hurt if someone tells you no because there are people out there who won't get it. Then keep doing it. Take a little step every week and see how your support and community builds!

Here Are Some Of The Little Steps You Can Take:

1) Search one of your fave forums to see who else from your area is on there and then connect with them

2) Have a local photographer whose blog you stalk? Leave a comment or email them

3) Invite a local photographer to coffee

4) Search Facebook for a local photography group

5) Invite a JSO photographer to go on a photo walk with you. Learn from each other

6) Be nice and friendly when you see other photographer's out doing shoots. Maybe give them your card and start a conversation

Does your town or area not have a local photographer group? Or are the local resources available to you limited? Then be a path maker! Start doing things that build community in a larger sense.

1) If your town doesn't have a photographer group, start one on Facebook and organize some get togethers
2) Ask a local photographer to teach on something for your group
3) Organize a shootout (details here)
4) Find out if other groups are meeting in your area and go! (check to see if there are SMUG's around or other locally ran groups)
5) If you are on the hunt for a studio, consider a co-op or community one that will help save costs and build relationships for you!

A Note On Shootouts:

Shootouts have been one of the best ways here in Knoxville for us to reach out and build community. While these can be time consuming and detailed, they can also be basic and so easy to put together that you could be having a shootout by next weekend.

Here is a simple way to do a shootout: Ask someone you know to be a model, pick a cool location, tell the model to wear fun and funky clothes, invite another or several photographers along. Bam! You got yourself a little fun shootout.

There are tons of ways to make shootouts more complicated but if you aren't into all the planning of it, you can still do one and keep in simple. This is how we organize photographer shootouts in Knoxville

Here Are Some Images From Our Recent Local Shoots:

So what do you think? Are you ready to start or be a part of a photography community? What benefits do you see in collaborating with other photographers? What kind of road-blocks are you experiencing? Do you think you can or want to overcome them? Speak your mind in the comments section below. We love to hear from you!

I think it was Zack Arias who lit a fire in me to think about off-camera lighting for my wedding and portrait photography. Since taking his workshop in Boston a few years back, I have been to a number of other workshops. I'll be happy to post a short list of those in a future blog post.

The one lighting workshop that always eluded me, however, was Joseph Victor Stefanchik's 1 Day Speedlites Workshop in Dallas. For a few years JVS, as he is called, only had these workshops in Texas. Now he and his lovely wife Anne are now taking these workshops on the road.

The one in Boston will be on August 26th. It will be held at LensProToGo‘s amazing warehouse space in Concord, Massachusetts. Learn more about these workshops.

JVS and Anne publish a blog called Off Camera Flash. You may want to bookmark it as it is one of my go-to-blogs for inspiration. Check out the images posted there and at his wedding website.

The word – “excited” – is a bit of an understatement. I spoke with JVS about this workshop and he promises me that he will elevate my ability to craft images with light and depth. The cost of the workshop is $500. It's a long, intensive day where you can expect to start using one-light and then two-lights and by the end of the course, three-lights. Class size will be small – no more than 15 people. The bonus is a PDF that JVS and Anne custom-design from the workshop that you attended with images, lighting diagrams and a list of equipment used for each example. This dedication to their craft and to their students alone convinced me that these guys are the real deal.

If you are interested in this Boston workshop by JVS & Anne, use this link to register. Please enter “PICSESHU” in the “Enter Promo Code” box during step one of three on their shopping cart. The cart will automatically apply a $50 discount for the first 10 people to register.

Yes, we are all inundated with requests to attend photography workshops all the time. Which ones are going to hit the mark … for you?

No easy answer to that one. However, here are the steps I usually take when I am considering a photography or lighting workshop of any kind:

1) I outline my immediate needs to grow as a photographer
2) Research the forums to see what is being said about a workshop I want to attend
3) Ask my peers if they have attended the workshop you are considering
4) Get a sense of who the instructor(s) are and what their goals for the workshop will be
5) Look for a way of following up after the workshop

Full disclosure: If I get 10 people to register using the link above, my registration fee will be complimentary. So, yes there is vested interest in plugging this workshop, but people who know me even remotely will tell you that I promote products and/or services that are only of a very high standard.

I hope you will join me in Boston on August 26th. We have much to learn … together!

This is a guest post by Tom Bourdon, an award winning travel photographer based in Spain and specializing in creating images of global celebrations. Find his blog here.

I have to admit I procrastinated a little over writing this blog, I was stumped as to what my subject should be, and without that I couldn't begin, searching for inspiration I headed over to Google. Then it dawned on me – inspiration – that's it, perfect, and I was off.

All artists need inspiration, where it comes from is difficult to say and there's no one guaranteed method of producing it. Sometimes you just need to let your mind wander for a short while, or see things differently, so I've put together a list that I hope will help everyone, myself included, when we're lacking that mystical power.

Now, I'm a travel photographer so this list is slightly biased towards that, but for sure it can be relevant to all photographers.

So with out further ado.

1. Read A Book

Any book. It doesn¥t have to have anything to do with photography, just pick one from your bookshelf or even a library (yes, they do still exist) and just read, its an exercise that will get the brain cells thinking outside of your normal life.'

2. Watch A Film

Books are great to get your imagination working, but films have the huge advantage of being visual, even if you never plan to shoot a second of video you can still learn plenty about composition from the cinema greats.

3. Visit A Flea Market Or Boot Fair

You never know what you're going to find at places like this, but for certain they'll be some interesting shapes to shoot.

4. Become A Tourist For The Day

Do touristy things in your own town, take a trip on the open top bus, wander around your town with fresh eyes, look up, wander down strange narrow streets, even get lost if you can. This is why I love travel photography so much particularly the festivals as there is always something unique to shoot.

5. Visit An Exhibition

No matter where you live there's bound to be a photography exhibition of some sort nearby, if not create one. In fact I'm off to see one later today.

6. Search Google Images Or Photo Libraries

Similar to visiting an exhibition except you can do it from the comfort of your own home. Find out what others are shooting and how. My current favorite is Reportage by Getty

7. Wake Up Early

Where you live probably looks very different at 6 in the morning, so wake up and explore this new place. Also by making the effort to get up early you'll feel more eager to shoot as getting up at ridiculous o'clock was the hard part, well it is for me.

8. Read A Blog

Don't know which one, here's another quick list:

Digtal Photography School
Strobist
Photopreneur
Catchy Colors Photoblog
Photodoto
Daily Dose of Imagery
Photoshop User TV
DIYPhotography
Earthbound Light
David DuChemin
Nature Photographers Of The Pacific Northwest
Stuck In Customs
Chase Jarvis Blog
Beyond the Obvious
F/1.0
Photoshop Insider
Photo Business News & Forum

… and there's plenty more.

9. Buy A Photography Book

Makes sense, no?

10. Set Yourself A Challenging Assignment

For example, shoot only red things for the day or only shoot from very low down to include your subjects feet. Its a great way to starting thinking about composition, by limiting yourself like this you¥ll be looking for new ways to shoot familiar subjects.

11. Make Friends In The Photography World

With the tidal wave of social media that¥s now upon us, its never been easier to meet like minded folk. These friendships can easily progress from the Internet to actually meeting up and who knows where it will go from there. Talking with other photographers is bound to shape your own photography. There¥s also Scott Kelby's Worldwide photo walk which is a great way to meet others and is well worth checking out.

12. Shoot Some Self Portraits

It could be as simple as a hand holding your camera and shooting your reflection in a mirror or it could be as complex as a full studio shot with big umbrellas either way its probably something you don't shoot very often and something you can play with for weeks until you get an image that you can be really proud of.

13. Check Out The Big Winners

The winners of big photo contests, such as the Pictures of the Year, Travel photographer of the year, World press photo, Photo district news. There's bound to be plenty to inspire. Which ever area of photography interests you there's bound to be a competition for it and the winning images should be somewhere online.

14. Play With Settings

Use slow shutter speeds and slow sync flash, set your aperture to f22 and shoot into the sun, use your highest ISO, just have a play and see what happens – perhaps you think you know, if so prove it. You may well be surprised.

15. Take A Photography Class

This doesn't have to be as time consuming as you might think. Creative live run free online photography courses with an incredible line up of teachers, you can even ask questions during the class and yes it really is free.

16. Ignore The Silly Criticism

Constructive criticism can really benefit the serious photographer, but it's not always great for your inspiration, particularly the silly criticism. At the end of the day if you¥re shooting for yourself and your happy with what you're producing then that's great. However if you're shooting for a client and your client isn't happy with your work – well that's something very different.

17. Shoot Something Random

The inside of your freezer, a radiator, your attic, the inside of your car, the dust on the top of your wardrobe, something you'd never normally think about taking a photo of. Spend some time on it playing with composition and light. Shoot five different, but thought out, compositions. This is harder than it sounds.

18. Doodle

I bet you haven't done this in a while, but just sit down with a pen and a blank piece of paper just scribble away absent-minded, move the pen around, make shapes, but don't think about it too much. This technique is often used by other visual artists, but I don't see why it can't aid the photographer.

19. Print Your Pictures

Not many people do this nowadays, myself included, which is a real shame. But being able to touch an image gives it a new dimension, I'm sure but there's probably some complex science behind all this, but all I know is to see my best work professionally printed on lustre paper I want to go out and shoot some more.

20. [fill in the blank with your own]

Now number 20 is up to you guys, leave your own ideas for what inspires you in the comments section below, there's no prizes (unless Seshu wants to jump in here with something ;) ) it's just sharing ideas, which is what the Internet is so great for.

This is a guest post by Divya Manian, a standards-based web designer who now lives in Seattle. She publishes her own blog, Nimbupani.

What pictures come to mind when you think of India?

Wait, I do not need to ask you, all I need to do is to look at Flickr search results and it is obvious what India means to photographers. What about Africa?

India, is much more than vermilion, yellow, vibrant colors and dark women. It is now a land of high-rises, malls, and industrial pollution. Unfortunately, this is not a popular stereotype and rarely highlighted in photography. It perpetuates a myth of poverty and rustic living that is now not true for most of India. Similar is the case with African countries. The greatest catastrophe is the grouping of so many different countries into one ideal “country” called Africa. Africa's landmass can contain China, US, and more in terms of land area. There are people of several cultures within a single country in Africa and African towns and cities have a lot more technology than popular photographs indicate.

A photograph is a slice of time which exaggerates the importance of the captured moment, just like a painting. Photographs have been used to perpetuate myths as well as facts. They alter public opinion with force that is unseen in the written text. As in the movie Spiderman, Uncle Ben says, “With great power, comes great responsibility” and here I would like photographers to use this power wisely.

It is easier to shoot photographs that match a popular stereotype than to go against it. Many times, a popular stereotype reinforces the familiarity of a shot and makes a photograph appealing. Unfamiliarity with the subject being photographed can cause this too. Sometimes, it invokes a sense of nostalgia for a time that could have been or sometimes, a sense of relief for not being in that position, or there can be simply nothing else to do (e.g. Taj Mahal, or birthday parties). Still, stereotypes pander to an opinion that already exists and brings nothing new to life, and I consider that an opportunity lost. A popular cliche these days is a religious priest with a “hi-tech” gadget.

This is a call to all photographers to look beyond the stereotypes, or to use stereotypes wisely. For example, Mr. Oochappan takes great photographs of a part of Tamil Nadu that is rarely seen by the city dwellers. His photographs revels in the stereotypes so much that the pictures bring out unseen facets of Tamil culture. See this image in particular of a man dressed like the Hindu deity Shiva.

Akshay Mahajan usually take photographs that go beyond the stereotypical shots:

I don't mean to hold these two as extreme examples and not all of their photographs fit into the boundaries I have drawn around them. It may not be possible to escape the cliche, but as photographers we must try.

How do you know if you are subscribing to a cliché? Simple, if a shot looks “perfect”, ask yourself why you think so. Is it because it fits into a known stereotype of a “perfect” shot for that place/occasion/people? Or is it because that shot tells an unusual story? Whatever it is, before you take or share a photo you have taken with the world, spend some moments thinking about the story the photograph tells and let it not be “perfect”.

What do you think? Ink your thoughts below in the comments section.