/Paula Bartela
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About Paula Bartela

Wedding, family and portrait photographer based in Lodz, Poland and Oslo, Norway. ( http://www.architectsoflight.pl ) Warsaw School of Photography graduate.
29 September 2015

115+ Inspiring Family Photographers You Can’t Miss

By |29 September 2015|Articles|86 Comments

115+ Inspiring Family Photographers You Can't Miss - impressive list with a lot of interesting photographers, often with photojournalistic approach


There is no doubt that the moments of childhood are fleeting. The moments we cherish, first smiles, first steps, cuts and bruises. These all make memories so beautiful and worth remembering. One picture can mean thousand words so why not freeze those moments in time? Kids, families are perfect photography subjects- there is always some emotion conveyed.

We wish to show you a collection of inspiring family photographers whose works are definitely worth seeing. Some of them you are probably familiar with, some may be new to you. The first place is honourable, however the list shouldn’t be treated as any kind of ranking, the numbers are meant to organize the list itself. :)

( By the way, did you see our similar 180+ Remarkable Wedding Photographers list? )

So grab a cup of coffee and immerse yourself in the journey of great kids and family images!

1. Anna Kuperberg

Anna Kuperberg

website: www.kuperberg.com

An award-winning wedding and family photographer. Her works bring a sense of photojournalism into a family portrait. Her images seem to be spontaneous and natural.
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15 January 2015

How Alex Win Made Carrying Lighting Gear Effortless With This Awesome Tool

By |15 January 2015|Articles|1 Comment

Carrying Lighting Gear Strobist Tool - Golf Cart DIY

No assistant? Lots of gear to handle yourself? A camera, or more, set of lens, lights, modifiers, stands, a generator and of course bags and only two hands. And how about changings locations a couple of times? How cool does that sound?

Anyone of you photographers who struggle with the challenges of managing all the lighting equipment when going out on location should read this. We had a fantastic opportunity to talk to Alex Win, a photographer standing behind a golf cart that turned into a portable light stand. We asked him a couple of questions that could answer some of your questions and give you a hint on how to improve your work.

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17 December 2014

How 31 Prominent Wedding Photographers Define Their Style

By |17 December 2014|Articles|6 Comments

How 31 Prominent Wedding Photographers Define Their Style

The truth may not be too pleasant. The competition in photography industry is high. Well, the word ‘fierce’ might even be more appropriate. Now, every year there is a new number of ‘professionals’ in the market. Some actually are, some strive to be, some will never be. And then again, there is this question that we may ask: “Will clients clearly see the difference between my work and e.g. ‘uncle Bob’s?”

So how to deal with all that? Is that true that a good photograph can defend itself? That is true, but not entirely. You need to make yourself heard, show the world your fantastic work. The question is how to stand out from the crowd of other photographers marching for the same pie? One of the things that you can do, and to my mind a really vital one, is defining your style of photography. And, believe me, if you fail to do that, then someone else will do that for you. And in such case, it is immensely difficult to break free from the ideas that are already there, in the minds of audiences. And that’s not the point, right?

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20 August 2014

How To Create Great Concert Photography? Interview and Tips

By |20 August 2014|Articles|0 Comments

How To Create Great Concert Photography? Interview and Tips


I am so happy to share with you an interview that I had with a music photographer, Radek Zawadzki. After reading the article I hope you’ll get some insight to the job from the perspective of a concert photographer. Radek shares with us his beginnings, talks about the job itself, what it takes to create great live music photography and finally shares some tips targeted at aspiring concert photographers. (more…)

12 June 2014

Top ‘Must-Have’ Freebies Photographers Will Love

By |12 June 2014|Articles|2 Comments

Top 'Must Have' Freebies Photographers Will Love


Photography is just awesome. I bet there are literally thousands of you out there who share their interest in this wonderful hobby. And a big bunch of you guys are professionals. No matter what stage or level of photography you represent, you must have used Internet to browse through photography resources available. The range of articles, tips, information available is just bewildering! That must be confusing! Having this in mind we have compiled a decent list of resources that one can find on the Internet. And guess what! It’s all free!

Well, shopping is fun, of course, but if you want to compile a nice bunch of books, pay for courses or other extras, then you’d just have to drain your pockets! We’ll show you super-useful freebies that actually are worth paying for, but that is not the case today. Just consider these as your free photography cafeteria.

We divided the material into separate categories to simplify the process of digging out the freebies of your interest. Enjoy!
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12 April 2014

Do You Have a Successful Wedding Photography Business Image?

By |12 April 2014|Articles|1 Comment

Successful Wedding Photography Business


A satisfied and happy couple = awesome marketing and promotion tool. That goes without saying. The question is how do I create a professional image of my company and myself as an artist to attract couples? Yeah, we do often rely on word of mouth. It works so well. But then again, you’ll need some professional reference that your prospective clients may get some insight to. These include: offer, website and portfolio and customer service. Let me focus on these.

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2 March 2014

6 Smart Tips for a Successful Engagement Shoot

By |2 March 2014|Articles|1 Comment

6 Smart Tips for a Successful Engagement Shoot

What exactly is an engagement session?

Some may ask: „What exactly is an engagement session?” Well, that is namely an occasion for the couple to be photographed before the wedding and for the photographer to establish and build up a relation with the couple.

Photographer’s benefits from engagement shoot

Why should we bother? Well, there are number of reasons why. First of all, for the photographers it is a unique chance to get to know the couple better, their personalities and expectations. It is always nicer to greet the couple on their wedding day with a friendly smile and well-known “Hi!” instead of cold handshakes. The photographer often captures intimate, personal moments. It is a lot easier to do so with someone you already know and worked with rather than almost complete strangers.

Couple’s benefits from engagement shoot

And for the couple? The benefits are countless! Establishing a relationship with the photographer easily translates to actual wedding photos. The outcome is really different, as the couple feels more comfortable with the photographer. That’s because they know his or her style of working and created a level of trust before.

What’s more, some couples don’t like being photographed, as they do not feel very comfortable in front of a camera. Engagement session is a kind of “rescue wheel” as it helps people understand that professional shoot can be fun and that obviously takes a great deal of stress out of the actual wedding day, which again, has an unquestionably positive effect on the pictures from THAT Day.

And something often forgotten about, but immensely important, especially for the bride-to-be. Has anyone ever told you that an engagement session could be a fantastic test of the bride’s make-up? They often arrange a “trial make-up” before the wedding- why not use it on our engagement session day? Thus, the bride tests not only how she looks but also how that make-up presents in the photographs.
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14 January 2014

Portrait Photography Masters – a Very Subjective List

By |14 January 2014|Articles|0 Comments

Portrait Photography Masters - a Very Subjective List

Photos in the image by Yousuf Karsh, Arnold Newman and Annie Leibovitz

As a follow up to a Quick Guide to Emotional Portraits, still in the topic of portraits, let me share with you my list of portrait photography masters. These are the icons of photography that at some point drew my attention and changed the way I think about portraits. Their photographs are not soulless images that make you click from one page to another in less than 2 seconds. These are truly powerful images that make you stop for a while.

Don’t let the numbers mislead you – this is not any kind of ranking. The numbers are random and the names listed here just follow my stream of thoughts about the photographers.

1. Richard Avedon ( 1923-2004 )

Also well known for fashion photography, but undoubtedly his portraiture is well worth your attention. These large scale black and white, images concentrate on capturing the humanity and frank intensity of the subject.

What I really like about Avedon is the fact that when photographing celebrities, he tried to get an image of the subject by stripping them of the Hollywood or media branding and strove to show basic human emotion. We may know little or nothing about the people on the photographs. Still, we get some idea about them, or at least we get a clear picture of what Avedon was trying to tell us.

The recipe seems to be: simple background and detailed close-ups. Hence you get very expressive faces. In his work with the model, he loved interaction and often through stories he evoked emotions and reactions just to get an intended expression.

See more of this photographer’s work:

Richard Avedon

www.richardavedon.com

 

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1 October 2013

A Quick Guide to Emotional Portraits

By |1 October 2013|Articles|1 Comment

A Quick Guide to Emotional Portraits

As you may probably agree with me, portrait photography IS a challenge. It is not about arranging a meeting with someone and taking picture of them. It’s all about emotions, and the relation between you and the subject.

This guide will not provide you with any sophisticated techniques that could make your pictures creative or original. It will tell you how to look for the truth. There are many good portraits, such as fashion or glamour portraits. Nevertheless, they are artificial in terms of emotions – everything is directed from the beginning. This is not the kind of photographs I wish to focus on now.

There are three important aspects about portraits worth concentrating on: Model, Authenticity, Light. Read this portraits guide to take more emotional photos.

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10 September 2013

23 Wedding Photography Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

By |10 September 2013|Articles|0 Comments

23 Wedding Photography Mistakes

Planning to shoot a wedding? Well, tough assignment to take on. The stakes? Really high! It simply does not matter if you work as a pro or as a newbie. There are some things out there you should know about in order to avoid serious mistakes that could ruin your pictures and in fact, ruin your career.

1. “I’m a PRO”

Lot’s of people turn into photography as a hobby. As the hobby is not a cheap thing, a lot of them want to make a profit out of it. But, please. Be realistic about your skills. Having a decent DSLR and some experience set of gear is surely not enough.

This is the photographer that takes pictures, not the camera.  The investment is expensive and it goes to a very competitive market where only those skillful, talented and creative will survive. If you start in the business, be frank about that. Present a realistic picture of your current experience and where you are at your photographic journey, especially when you get paid for the assignment.

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