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Hot Brief "Female Rising" winning image by Robb Reece

Congratulations to the winner of the Hot Brief: Female Rising: 

Robb Reece's image shows women as the protagonists - independent, strong and filled with aspirations.

Robb says: This is an image that was in my mind for a long time until I finally had the correct talent to capture it - two young ladies from a local university running team with strong, fast legs. Female athletes are getting stronger and faster every year. 

I wanted to capture motion and speed along with a foreground of someone preparing to run. Two different parts of a story all in one shot so to speak. Using the perspective and lines on a running track is always a fun visual. I wanted to get just enough motion blur from the runner to show action while the other teammate looks on encouragingly. For me personally, I grew up racing and running on a track, so it always feels like home to me.

Check out more of Robb's great images on RooM and search amongst thousands of other top class images on RooM.

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Hot Brief "Friends" winning image by Ester Valverde

Congratulations to the winner of our first Hot Brief: Friends.

Ester Valverde's image feels like we are observing a real shared experience between true friends. The bright, summery treatment gives us warmth and makes the moment familiar. This is a beautiful and effective image.

Ester says: I am very glad this photo has been chosen to symbolise friendship. This dog, Zoe, was abandonned and she has recently been adopted by a family who is trying to rehabilitate her. Lope, the child who appears in the picture, fell in love with her at first sight and follows her around wherever she goes. With this picture, I wanted to capture that special friendship between a child and a dog with a difficult past.  

Check out more of Ester's great images on RooM and search amongst thousands of other top class images on RooM.

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Insta_view: Leanne Staples

http://www.roomtheagency.com/c/leannestaples/ https://plus.google.com/+LeanneStaples/posts  by marianne@roomtheagency.com

This insta_view can be republished but it must credit RooM the Agency and link directly to the source.

BIOGRAPHY

Leanne is an urban photographer based in New York where she not only teaches online photography classes but also works as a licensed tour guide. On top of that she’s officially “one of the nicest photographers” on Google+ as well, so it’s our pleasure to introduce the lovely Leanne!

You don’t seem to have taken up mobile photography yet… and Instagram is one of the only main social networks that you don’t have a presence on. Will you be making room for it in your life?

Mobile photography seems impossible for me. I find it difficult to compose shots and it just feels clumsy. I am used to having something with more substance and weight in my hands. I do take the occasional shot as a reminder of a place that I want to shoot again at a later date. As for Instagram, I recently rejoined it, but I only post photos taken with cameras, not mobile phones.

Photography is an art that is known for it’s evolutionary process - does it become tougher each year to learn new tricks?

For me, the only limitations I experience in advancing my work are with myself. I tend to go through different periods of shooting certain subjects or processing in certain styles until I get bored. (I get bored on a regular basis.) Then I start experimenting with new subjects and processing techniques. Photography and art are only limited by one’s imagination and willingness to constantly experiment and not fear failure.

There is an ongoing debate about photography still being a male dominated profession with the majority of veteran successful photographers being men. Do you feel that women still don’t get taken as seriously as they should and is there a difference in the way men and women produce images… or do you feel that its just a case of great photographers take great images?

As a woman I have to say that this is a question that has haunted me for many years. When I was in my teens and considering photography as a career, I was unable to find women as role models. I was unable to find a niche that spoke to me. That was a time well before the internet and I had no idea that photographers like Diane Arbus and Helen Levitt existed. As a result, I did not pursue photography as a profession at that point in my life.

If there’s a difference between men and women photographers it could be that many women produce art for arts sake and men produce as a career. That said, when it comes to photography produced by women and men they are equally talented.

You’re quite an ‘influencer’ with over 1.5 million followers on Google+. Do you feel a big responsibility with regard to what you post, how often you post and how you interact with your followers?

Social media is a double-edged sword. It has democratized photography as a profession. Before the internet the work of many photographers past and present would’ve gone unknown. The only method of seeing photography before social media and the internet was in museums, galleries and books. The chances of getting your work accepted into that world that was difficult at best.

Now we live in a world that is bombarded with images and likes on social sites are free and since everyone owns a camera now, it has become more difficult to actually make a living selling photography. I contribute to a number of social sites but as I need to have time to create and to make a living, I limit my time online. As for having a responsibility with regard to what I post, I tend to post photos that I am currently in the mood for.

Sally Mann said “I get seduced by visual aesthetics. Because I just like making beautiful pictures, sometimes I wander away from making a clear statement”. Is that something you can relate to and do you feel that much of what it produced today in this throw away society we all live in, is perhaps lacking any statement at all?

I guess that I think of my work in a post-modern light. That is to say that what a photograph means to me is not important. Each person reads an image in their own way. If I am successful, an image speaks to others. I only hope that it isn’t pedantic, that there is only one way to interpret an image. So to answer your question, I don’t know that I neatly fit into either camp that you mention. But then I’m not certain that I am able to be totally objective about my own work as I am too close to it.

Visual communication seems to be taking over as the primary form of expression and there are obviously good and bad sides to this but what do you see as the biggest benefits that photography has brought society – and conversely do you see any drawbacks?

Photography as an art form is very important to me. In contrast, the majority of images that we see on a day to day basis are forms of advertising. The biggest problem I see is that as a culture we tend to be visual illiterates and that we don’t tend to take the time to understand the meaning in the images that we view.

This insta_view can be republished but it must credit RooM the Agency and link directly to the source.

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Insta_view: Shannon Hreha

http://www.roomtheagency.com/c/photoartbyshannon/ https://www.facebook.com/photoartbyshannon/  by Marianne@roomtheagency.com

This insta_view can be republished but it must credit RooM the Agency and link directly to the source.

BIOGRAPHY

Pennsylvania based Shannon is only 28 and a mother to 5 - Anastasia Eve, Lillith Marie, Emily Wynter, Hayley Jade and Ian Jasper. Although not yet a mobile photography convert, she creates poignant and striking images that speak to your soul.

Life must be pretty hectic in your household with 5 young children so getting everyone involved in your photography as models seems like a great way of doing something as a family whilst allowing you to do something you love. Was it a conscious decision to do that or were they willing subjects from the get go? Yes, we have a pretty hectic household. My 5 children are 9, 8, 7, 6, 4 and 3 of my children are also disabled like myself. We have lots of appointments but we always make time to spend with each other. My children love photography, they use my point and shoot Sanyo camera. This camera was one of my first point and shoots that I loved. Now I've moved onto my dSLR Canon Rebel t3 Camera. The kids love playing roles in our photography. I'll give them a line and script like an actor/actress and they play out the parts to the best of their ability i.e.: " You’re in the woods and a bear is coming. Show this emotion". They ask every weekend to have photo shoots with me. Richard Avedon said “my portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph”. Is that something you think is generally true – and perhaps even more so when photographing your own children? It all depends on the person, with our photography we use life events, deaths, births, hardships etc. Whatever we all are feeling at the time gets brought out into our photos. If were having a hard day, I tend to make a more descriptive photo to show what has happened, but in our own creative way. With my children, they have come to me with their own ideas and I help them with makeup, and clothing and they pose themselves while I go with the flow and take their photos, along with process them with their ideas no matter how strange the requests are. "My 6 year old daughter Hayley wanted a tea party with an Elephant, we drew on paper an idea of what she wanted, and we went with it" You got your first dSLR about 2 years ago, having previously only had a point and shoot and you’ve only been working with Photoshop for about 5 months. Do you think being completely self-taught, learning by playing with buttons and going through a process of trial and error, brings a different perspective to your photography as you don’t have to follow set rules? Yes I've always had a knack for photography, when I was younger we had 35mm cameras, I had a class in school where we developed photos in a dark room. I had a few point and shoot cameras, and always wanted to try a DSLR camera, but due to how big they were I was afraid to have to carry it around with me due to size and weight. I finally got a Canon Rebel T3 camera and just love it. With Photoshop, I was not a fan of it at first, I wasn't sure on buttons, actions, gradients, etc. I used paint.net, Gimp, Photo monkey and a few others that I downloaded. They were all pretty basic and I started learning from there. Since about October 2013 I've been playing with Photoshop. One day I just started putting my kids in different backgrounds, and then it all started from there. I looked at a few tutorials but that was someone else’s perspective, and I wanted to do my own things. I started playing with buttons, making actions and brushes, I've taken simple things such as snow and turned it into sand. It’s a lot of trial and error, if I don't feel the image I will delete it and start over. I never put anything together completely unless I'm absolutely in love with it and I am able to look at the image and be able to think about it and what its meaning is to us. You’re obviously very creative as you also paint but where do you get your inspiration from, how long do you spend editing your images and do you have a vision of the end product before you start working on a shot or is that something that comes to you gradually? I am a very creative person in the artsy world. I think outside of the box with pretty much anything that I do. I like to be unique and different than others. My kids, my mother and brother are my inspirations, along with things we've seen in books, life events that happen on tv or where ever we go, I looked in a book with my daughter, a simple ISPY book and seen a key hole, That small object gave me an inspiration to do a photo with a keyhole. My photos generally take me about 2-4 hours to finish, depending on details. I have never had a photo take me more than 4-1/2 hours to complete. Most times I think in my head what I want to do and what it will look like, some times I've drawn out what I want to accomplish. Some times however I will work on something and have an idea ready but if I don't feel it I will change it to suit myself.

There is a very established mobile photography art scene and a plethora of editing apps available. You don’t currently shoot on a mobile device but is that something you can imagine trying in future - especially as your children get older and the number of electronic devices in the house increases?! I have used my mobile phone before for landscapes, and have taken random pictures of art that I've seen. I have used a few apps that are on my phone, and loved some of the landscape photos for wallpapers. Also, if I don't have my camera with me when I'm out I will use my phone to capture photos of my children if they are also inspired by something they have seen.

You obviously focus on taking photos of your children at the moment but how would you like to see your photography evolve over time and what does photography mean to you? I started out taking photos of basic landscaping, then went on to taking photos of my children. I moved from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to a small country town outside of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. There’s not many opportunities to get out where I'm at as I also do not drive. Most of my photos are done inside my home or out in the country side where it is open. I would love to see myself with a studio and become a professional photographer and graphic artist. Photography means to me the capturing of beauty inside and out. To be able to capture expressions all around me, and how they make us feel. Everyone is unique and has their own personality and taste. Photography means creations - there is no right or wrong way in the art. This is why I love what we do, we can express how we feel in our photos, without words.

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Insta_view: Pauly Vella

http://www.roomtheagency.com/c/paulyvella/ http://instagram.com/paulyvella  by marianne@roomtheagency.com This insta_view can be republished but it must credit RooM the Agency and link directly to the source.

BIOGRAPHY Sydney based Pauly pursues his passion for photography when he's not busy being an air conditioning mechanic by day. He's amassed an impressive 290,000 followers on Instagram and his beautiful landscape and nature shots of Australia have helped him travel across the globe doing what he loves.

Your girlfriend installed the Instagram app on your phone back in 2011, obviously not knowing that you’d become an Instagram superstar. What drew you to using the app when it was still in its infancy? What really stood out to me about Instagram in particular was that I could get a first hand view of anywhere in the world right from an app on my phone. Not only is it a view into much of the world I have never seen before but it's from a photographers point of view rather than a tourism advertisement which to me makes it feel more real. I think that is what we're all looking for in terms if travel. To experience the 'real' side of a destination. The experience of what it feels like to really be there is far greater than the tourist side of things. Instagram opened up a whole new world to me and gave me a platform to share my side of the world. I was very surprised at the talent on Instagram that people would share through their phones. It was incredible to see people capturing these breathtaking shots and sharing them instantly via Instagram. You’re a very prolific Instagramer and post multiple images each day. How do you find time to take and edit such a constant stream of imagery and are you finding it harder, now that you’ve got such a large following to please? It isn't easy to find time to always photograph different areas and new subjects although it is my passion. Once I started to get addicted to Instagram I would be shooting more often to the point where I was planning shoots in all of my free time like afternoons, on the weekends, and even before work for sunrise. I think that the larger following I have built up inspires me more to go to different places and new techniques. My followers know what to expect from me with my landscape beach shots, which are my personal favourites but I do get a lot of positive feedback from my followers on other types of photography like portraits, night shots, waterfalls and animal portraits which I often like to include on my feed. Sam Abell once said “a mad, keen photographer needs to get out into the world and work and make mistakes”. You obviously started out taking mobile photos but you now often shoot on a dSLR and you’ve also started an online photography course. Can you share with us some of the mistakes you have made, which I am sure have helped make you a better photographer? There are many mistakes I have made that have really changed the way I shoot. It's more about getting set in a good routine and planning how I am going to shoot now. For example once I plan on a location I do a fair bit of research into how best to capture the shot I want. I have learnt over the past year of using a DSLR the angles and lighting that work best for a situation. Let me finish by saying if you are going to take a mobile phone in an underwater case into the ocean for some nice wave shots, make sure you have it strapped to your arm... As the weather, cityscape and scenery in and around Sydney is so conducive to great photography, do you think it’s easier to take good photographs in your country than somewhere else that is perhaps not quite as blessed with great light? I am truly blessed to live in one of the most incredible scenic countries in the world. Sydney in particular is a beautiful city and has great photography opportunities wherever you turn. I think that from a photographer’s point of view if you can convey a feeling or an emotion through a photograph and truly give someone a view that is true to that country then that is a beautiful photograph. Light is very important to a good photograph but I think no matter where in the world you look there is beauty. It just takes someone with a good eye to capture it.

You’re a keen musician, singer, songwriter and photographer but do you have a preference for one over the other and how would you like to see your creativity develop? When I was growing up through high school I was obsessed with music and art! I started to get into music when I was 13 playing the drums in a band with friends and then moved on to guitar and vocals towards different styles of music. My love for photography originated through my love of the ocean and developed from there. As I am now finding success through my photography via Instagram, I am more than happy to take photos whenever I can which does fill up a lot of my time. But when I have some free time I write music with my band as often as I can and will shortly be releasing our debut album which has been a dream of mine since we began writing together. I am very excited to see what the future holds in terms of both photography and music.

You were one of a number of Instagramers flown to Hamilton Island as part of their social media campaign last year. Were you at all surprised that they picked you, what are your thoughts generally on using Instagram for social media campaigns and have you been involved in any since then? Hamilton Island truly is a beautiful paradise. I was quite surprised when I was offered the role and had never even thought that my following in Instagram could take me to such a wonderful place. I am proud to say since the first ultimate Instameet campaign in November 2012 I have been back twice and loved it even more. Instagram social media campaigns can have huge benefits for brands and destinations if they are done well. When I started my Instagram account it was to share the beauty of where I live and not to advertise. I want to stay true to why I use Instagram to share with my followers. I have been involved with various social media campaigns including Hamilton island, the great ocean road, tassie journey, the Whitsunday Instameet and I am just about to experience an incredible trip to Quebec in Canada! With a few on the horizon for this year I couldn't be happier to be where I am right now and am so grateful for the support I have received from my followers from all over the globe.

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Mobile Masters 2014

During Macworld 2013, Dan Marcolina – designer, author and experienced mobile photographer – organised and co-hosted the inaugural ‘Mobile Masters’ session; a workshop where budding and influential mobile photographers shared tips and discussed how shooting images with a phone was starting to become a viable sub-genre of photography.  Marcolina credits iPhoneography as a way to combine his passion for digital design and photography and his book, the critically acclaimed ‘iPhone Obssessed’, has been deemed the most creative resource for discovering iPhoneography.

This year there will also be MobileMasters The Proof 2014, a contest which aims to showcase mobile photography as ‘a different and expanding new movement’ and which RooM the Agency is proud to support.  The contest is divided into two categories Image Discovery and Image Invention and is open to all levels of mobile photographer, from beginner to professional.  - ‘Image Discovery’ is for straight images with limited manipulation to enhance the tone or mood of the image but not change the moment captured. A good example of such is street photography. - ‘Image Invention’ is aimed towards digital artists, who can use one or more editing apps to manipulate an image. Entry is simple and there's just one price to submit a complete ePorftolio. All you need to do is send a link to your images which could be from Flickr, Instagram, EyeEm or Behance for example.   Judging will be based on the first 40-50 images displayed so a concise portfolio is recommended. The submissions will then curated and judged by a special panel of jurors from the photography world, including Stephen Perloff (founder and editor of The Photo Review) and top iPhoneographers and Elite RooM contributors Richard ‘Koci’ Hernandez and Karen Divine. The winners and their work will be announced during Macworld’s Mobile Masters session on 26th March 2014, during a workshop hosted by Marcolina, as well as renowned mobile photographers Kevin Kuster and Jack Hollingsworth.  In addition to great prizes, the winners will also be featured in the upcoming Mobile Masters eBook and we'll be offering 5 winners the opportunity to become Elite members of RooM as well. Last year’s ‘Crossing the Threshold’ e-book edition was invite-only but gave its featured artists international exposure, not to mention opportunities to work on similar projects with fellow artists.  With the submissions now open to everyone this year, it will be exciting to see how many talented artists will be discovered! The deadline is 2nd March and you can find out more by clicking here for a list of full terms and conditions.

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Insta_view: Donal Moloney

http://www.roomtheagency.com/c/donalmoloney/  http://instagram.com/donalfoto/  by marianne@roomtheagency.com This insta_view can be republished but it must credit RooM the Agency and link directly to the source.

BIOGRAPHY

Dublin based Donal is a pro-photographer with a wicked sense of humour and a great eye for photography. Having worked commercially for many years with great success he's turning his hand to other projects these days. RooM being one of them. We're very excited to have him onboard so read on and enjoy!

“It was the best fun I’ve ever had with my clothes on”

Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into mobile photography, how you came across Instagram and what your mobile journey has been like so far.

I’m not sure how and I’m still not sure if I’m “into” it. It’s certainly instantanious fun but there’s a side of me that feels ashamed to have allowed it simplify a dying craft. I suppose it’s like Facebook etc in that we feed our egos with likes, compliments and new friends.

Digital photography and apps like Instagram have without doubt democratized photography. Do you feel that has changed the way people perceive photographers and photography?

Absolutely. In the past, the photographer was perceived as being a craftsman, an artist, almost rockstar like. We took our time by creating carefully lit images that had to be exposed perfectly. We would then retire to a darkroom for many hours to create the magic.

I embraced digital photography a long time ago but it worries me sometimes that the post-production is becoming more important than the pre-production.

Everyone is now a photographer. The instantanious ability to create arty images from average shots gives everyone a sense of being part of the arty world. A world they had never considered previously. A world they never thought they could enter. Everyone’s an artist.

You’re an established advertising photographer and you’ve worked for global brands such as Vodaphone, Heineken and Coca-Cola. How do you see mobile photography developing in the commercial space and have you had the opportunity to shoot any high profile campaigns with a mobile yet?

No, I haven’t but I wouldn’t rule it out. If the art director’s idea lends itself to mobile photography, then so be it.

I must admit though, it worries me to think that possibly someday a man(or woman) in a suit, a tie and a balance sheet will be taking the shots for a client and not a skilfully trained photographer. Worse still, the suit will take the shot and the photographer will do the retouching.*shiver*

You’ve been focusing more and more on personal projects in the last year or so. Your photographs of Martin on Instagram are especially moving while your ongoing Chair project is more playful and your Intruders collection perhaps more challenging. Are they a reflection of the kind of work you most enjoy producing?

Yes, quite possibly although I mostly enjoy shooting interesting people in interesting environments. However, if I have a strong enough idea or project, I’ll give it my full attention. Ideas are what excites me. If I get a strong idea into my head, I’ll go full steam at it and it consumes me.

The Intruders project took over 5 solid months to produce but it was the best fun I’ve ever had with my clothes on. I was like a impatient child in a sweet shop. Much of it was also illegal which was also very exciting http://donalmoloney.com/intruders/ It came at a time when commissioned work was slow and I hate being idle.

‘Chair’ was the same. https://www.facebook.com/storyofchair It also took about 5 months to produce. It went with me everywhere and even my wife was beginning to wonder if she was competing with a piece of kitchen furniture.. Haa. It sat in the back of my car every day. I would take off around the country for days at a time and shoot eveywhere and anywhere. What it also done was keep me photo fit. It’s very easy to get rusty when commercial work is slow and these projects kept me match fit.

The ‘Martin’ story/shots are something I just stumbled upon and it’s also a subject that touches me https://www.facebook.com/DonalMoloneyPhotography

I’m also working on another personal project that looks at amateur boxing in Ireland. The sport is largely dominated by people from poorer backgrounds and the traveller community are also heavily involved. Shooting portraits of these individuals in their own environments is very powerful.

You split your time between Ireland and Dubai which is many people’s idea of heaven. From a photographic standpoint they’re very different – does that affect how and what you shoot?

Well, I only travel to Dubai once a year for a couple of weeks. Shooting in Ireland offers a lot more freedom as there are more etiquette rules in Dubai for cultural reasons. I love working with people and much of my routine when shooting is to have banter with the cast. I have to curtail my Irishisms if you get my drift. Advertising photography is Dubai is safe and everything is retouched to high heaven. People in posters look like androids and much of it looks the same retoucher..haa. Advertising in general is very safe and ideas are very thin on the ground.

There is one advantage though. When I shoot in Dubai, all the stress of casting, reccies and much of the pre production is done by the production company. This leaves me totally free to concentrate of the composition and the lighting. In Ireland I practically have to organize the whole shootin match.

“Post-production is becoming more important than the pre-production”

Photography is something that interests most people and there are a lot of amateurs that would love to turn their hobby into a career. What advice would you give and is there anything that you wish someone had told you when you first started out?

There’s a lot more competition around nowadays and it can be a lot of stress finding work. There’s a lot to be said for a regular wage packet every Friday, Haa. You have to honestly ask yourself what it is you have that others don’t?

Many professional photographers get caught up in the commercial world we depend upon and forget why we loved photography in the first place. I’m having as much photographic fun now as I did when I was a kid.

[roomtheagency]

Stock Imagery: A RooM with a creative view

Today, Sean Hayes, a leading Creative Director who has recently joined RooM as a contributor, shares his thoughts on mobile photography and our RooM concept.

  "We're exposed to an overload of images nowadays." So said Eric Kessels, Dutch advertising creative and all-round renaissance man, as he launched his art installation at an Amsterdam gallery in 2011. The gallery space was filled with a sea of random photos that had been uploaded to the photo hosting service Flickr, over a 24-hour period. Kessels had printed them out and filled the gallery with the images to give an impression of an overflowing landfill.

  We are drowning in a tsunami of photographs. As of March 2013, it was calculated that 27,800 photos were uploaded to Instagram every minute and 300 million to Facebook every day. But this pales in comparison to Flickr, who have gone on record as saying that, since its inception in 2014, eight billion photos have been uploaded to their site. It doesn't stop there - industry reports indicate that in 2012, about ten percent of all photos ever taken have been shot in the past 12 months. That's a lot of 'Kodak moments'. Where does this leave creative professionals who have made photography their passion and vocation? While the popularity of photography has exploded thanks to the ubiquity of digital technology, companies like Kodak, who have long and esteemed reputations as purveyors of quality photographic products and services, have imploded. Contradictions abound.

There has never been a greater demand for commercial photography products, yet quality suffers as the industry increasingly attempts to stay afloat in a sea of sameness.

  Adding to the misery, long-standing commissioners and buyers of photography, like advertising agencies, editorial publishers and the broadcast media, have put pressure on quality suppliers of photographic services to enter into a price war. This has had the unfortunate effect of turning a once valuable and personalised product into an impersonal commodity. A 'Ryanairesque' race to the bottom, as it were. While this is not necessarily bad news for business people who can only quantify the world through cold mathematical calculation - it has had a detrimental effect on professionals seeking to create and supply quality products and services. The old adage - knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing - is a maxim that has unfortunately overtaken the world of commercial photography today. But demand for photographic products and services has not only held steady, but has dramatically increased. Again, contradictions abound. Photographic stock houses have proliferated to meet this insatiable demand, but price is calculated in terms of volume rather than value - but all is not lost.

  Media clients, their agents and art buyers, are increasingly recognising, that while prices have plummeted, so has value. Value in this particular case meaning imagery that has a distinctive quality; photographs that help create original and memorable brand, communication and design campaigns. The overriding question today is: How to be different in an undifferentiated insta-everything world? This is why RooM the Agency is a game changer, in my opinion.

  RooM the Agency is simply a mobile community for serious stock shooters. It brings together street and commercial mobile photography visionaries, with a traditional stock photography platform and mobile connectivity. In other words - the best of both worlds. The best photographs from the world?s up and coming and established mobile photography community; combined with the know-how and best practice of an industry renowned stock house.

  There is a freshness and an unexpected quality to the work being produced by mobile shooters today. A freshness that existing clients and potential buyers will instantly recognise and appreciate. RooM meticulously curates all submissions from shooters to guarantee, not only technical standards, but also a distinctiveness and creative flair that can bring any communications brief to life. RooM also adopts a personal touch when dealing with clients and shooters - campaign insights, extensive research and support are all part of the service that breathes new life into a jaded industry.

  If you are a buyer or seller of the new dynamic creative imagery of mobile photography – as I am - then there is always RooM at the top. 

[roomtheagency]

Insta_view: Patrick Batchelder

http://www.roomtheagency.com/c/cityscape_nyc http://instagram.com/cityscape_nyc by marianne@roomtheagency.com This insta_view can be republished but it must credit RooM the Agency and link directly to the source.

BIOGRAPHY New Yorker, Patrick, has a keen eye for the patterns, colors, shapes, movements, textures and light that define his city. He manages to capture the familiar and make it interesting – he makes us look at our surroundings in a different way. We're big fans of Patrick's work and you can view more of his wonderful images here at RooM the Agency. 

“I soon began to see there were serious mobile photographers out there doing interesting work”

As a long time professional photographer, can you tell us a little bit about your introduction to mobile photography, how it has evolved and what it means to you. Although I had been using my phone to take pictures since I got my first camera-phone a couple of years ago, it wasn’t until a good friend of mine persuaded me to join Instagram earlier this year that I started to take mobile photography seriously. I soon began to see there were serious mobile photographers out there doing interesting work, and I wanted to become a part of that. You joined Instagram last year and you now have over 1,500 followers who you seem to interact quite a lot with. Have you been surprised by how you’ve taken to the app and what, in your view, are the best things about the Instagram community. Yes, I’m a bit surprised at how quickly I took to Instagram. However, from the beginning, I have tried to use Instagram as a serious platform, keeping a consistent theme and feel to my images, and I think this consistency is recognized by those who choose to follow me. 
 One of the things I like best about Instagram is that you can find people in different corners of the world photographing their surroundings in a serious way. So now I can see images every day from Istanbul, Sydney, Tokyo, Norway, anywhere I choose. According to figures published earlier this year, over 500 million images are shared every day. Do you feel that’s a good or a bad thing in the way we view photography and consume imagery?

These figures are great for photography in general because millions now have access to cameras and methods to share their photos. Even professional photographers are now finding new ways to showcase their work, so it’s not a necessity any more to have an expensive professionally designed website. There are many options and photographers now often use several different platforms to reach different audiences, at a fraction of the cost compared to several years ago. Although New York is one of the busiest cities in the world and it’s known as the city that never sleeps, you manage to make it look very peaceful and at times almost deserted. As a born and bred New Yorker, are you deliberately trying to portray a very different image of your city? There are many peaceful places and moments in New York City, so they are not as hard to find as one might think! But, I am not necessarily looking for those. I am trying to portray the everyday New York City scene in a way that is interesting and different. I consider a photo a success if someone says: “Wow, I walk by that thing every day and never noticed it in that way.” Often this means looking for those peaceful moments, or maybe just waiting for people to move out of the way. Other times it means waiting for the color, light or composition to come into a particular balance that may create a serene composition from the madness. But as I walk through the city every day, I am seeing the ordinary street corner or statue or building façade more often than the stereotypical crowded midtown street. Basically I’m just looking for cool shots of New York!

You’ve travelled a lot – especially throughout Japan which is culturally almost as far apart as you can get from America. Do you see things in the same way when you’re shooting in Japan or does being in a different place affect the way you approach your craft?

Shooting in Japan doesn’t affect the way I approach photography, but being in a different place does affect the way I see things­—everything looks interesting! When you’re in a different place you see the same things as at home: streets, stores, buildings, trains; but they’re different streets, stores, buildings and trains and they look different, so they become new and interesting subjects. I tend to shoot more ordinary scenes when I travel, such as storefronts, signs, transportation, people standing on corner. 


“A good photo is a good photo”

There is a definite snobbery in the photography world with some of the more traditional photographers differentiating between “real” and “mobile” photography. Isn’t it all the same at the end of the day no matter what equipment has been used or do you agree with Annie Leibovitz when she said “computer photography won’t be photography as we know it. I think photography will always be chemical”.

In the end I think it is all the same. A good photo is a good photo, no matter if it was made with an 8x10 camera or a mobile phone or a plastic Diana camera. It’s really the eye that sees the photo before any device can capture it, so if you don’t see it, it really doesn’t matter. However, there is still a great difference in quality among the various tools, and for the professional photographer who desires the best quality available, this is a concern. I can shoot a great photo with my mobile phone or a plastic camera, but will the quality be good enough to present to a client? This is the dilemma facing the professional photographer.

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Insta_View: Darek Markiewicz

www.roomtheagency.com/c/darekm101 http://instagram.com/darekm101  by marianne@roomtheagency.com This insta_view can be republished but it must credit RooM the Agency and link directly to the source. BIOGRAPHY When he's not working in his day job as Director of Engineering, Chicago based Darek is a keen landscape photographer. His vibrant, atmospheric photos capture perfect moments in time – not an easy thing to do by any means! Darek has some great images for sale with RooM and his Instagram feed is really worth checking out. 

“Photography being a visual medium doesn’t require people to speak the same language to be understood”

You joined Instagram in May 2011 and your style has definitely evolved during that period as has the way that you use Instagram. Your style now seems more natural, you don’t post as many images each day and you often share the ideas behind your images. How has that process evolved? Thank you for making this observation. I continue to evolve my photography and I am amazed that the process never stops. Everytime I think I am doing good work, all I need to do is pull up images from few yeas ago when I also thought I was also doing good work and re-evaluate those shots. Whenever I do this process, I re-discover two things. First that I’ve grown and second that most likely I still have plenty of room to grow further. In the past I had a problem allocating time to post production and editing. Mobile apps changed that because the entire process of shoot, edit, share was shortened to a single moment on a single device. I got hooked by the immediacy of the experience and as a result practiced more. Before Instagram was popular I used an app called “Best Camera” on iPhone 3G and I think Best Camera missed out by not creating a community around the filters. It was the first popular app, but Instagram came next and nailed the entire workflow by closing the loop on shoot, edit, share. I liked the social aspect of IG, but quickly the very thing that made it attractive (one click filter) became limiting. I wanted more control over-post processing. So I started using Camera+ which was a good stepping stone but still limiting, I switched to Snapseed and Filterstorm which allow more flexibility. Eventually editing on mobile phone was not powerful enough for me, so I went back to desktop to find Lightroom very refreshing for my SLR camera shots. More recently I started pushing the limits of Lightroom and doing more in photoshop. Funny how I came full circle, but now my post production process is long again. I resolve that by editing mobile photos on iphone and using lightroom exclusively for my SLR shots. The best thing is that I doubt anyone can tell which shot originated in which camera. 
 About my posts. I always look at a lot of photographs and try to understand the force behind the most powerful images. I found myself asking a lot of questions about the photography of others.  I figured that maybe others have similar interest in my photos. I posted some of my thoughts and to my surprise there was more engagement from my audience than I expected.  That engagement motivated me to write ever more detailed thoughts. Recently people started asking me if I have a blog, which tells me I need to start one. I think eventually I’d like to collect a some of the best posts and thoughts into an eBook, but I’ll be starting the blog and website first. On the topic of frequency of posts. I’d love to post more often, but I don’t want to post mediocre shots and producing quality work takes time and effort. I also learned to sit on finished images to see them next day when I am removed from the post processing. There are many over processed photos in my feed and waiting one day should help me avoid it in future. What is it about photography and Instagram in particular that you think appeals to people so much and do you think these media transcend cultures and bring people together? Photography being a visual medium doesn’t require people to speak the same language to be understood. Visual language is universal and everyone intuitively understands it. Still photographs especially leave a lot of room for interpretation, and I think that’s what we enjoy about photos. We bring a piece of our own experiences and emotions to someone elses still image. That is, once in a while we’ll come across a photo that resonates with us, we connect to it, and we have a platform in which we can reach out and share that experience with the person that took it. Very often they’ll respond. The byproduct of such exchanges is that we develop familiarity with someone across the world, and isn't that what transcending culture and bringing people together means? We know someone we wouldn’t otherwise. It’s quite amazing. I speak two languages, but I love getting comments in my feed in language I don’t speak.

You’ve previously said that you took up photography when your kids were born in the early 90s so you could take great photos of them. You don’t generally share those images online – is that because you feel that those memories are private and do you feel that there are certain images that people shouldn’t be sharing so readily? I think people should share what they feel comfortable. I love when people post photos of kids on IG that are creative and fun. I often comment on these and encourage the parents to take more. I do not harbor the view that family images are too private for social networks. I think we live in a world where many of us live our lives publicly and it’s okay. 
 To answer the question why I don’t post photos of my kids on IG. It’s a matter of fit for audience. On IG, I’ve developed audience that comes to expect me to post and talk about a creative images. The portraits of my kids have a different purpose. They’re portraits that end up being distributed to family and friends, often via Facebook. Recently I started doing some creative portraits with Anna, one of my daughters who also enjoys creating art, @annam1920. We are in very early stages of creative portraits and for now the work is very amateur, but we’re having a lot of fun with it. Eventually if the work is good enough, I might post some of that on my IG feed, if I feel it’s right for my audience. Head and shoulder photos are not appropriate for my audience. Mobile photography has inspired people take more interest in their photography. Do you think the next generation will be communicating in an even more visual way and is that something that will impact your professional career?

Yes on both counts! 


I think most people will agree that taking and sharing a photo of an experience has more impact on the audience than the written word. This holds true for most of us, apart from really good writers and poets. Also, why do something many consider a chore, when one can easily pull out a mobile phone, snap, edit, share. The mobile photography experience is so fun it’s akin to playing a game. I think people quickly discover that their photos don’t communicate with as much impact as some other photos. That recognition inspires many to try to do better and seek better understanding of the visual language. In my professional career I direct software product design. I spend a lot of time obsessing about visual hierarchy, usability, and things of that sort. I do look to introduce visual communication into our product, but that must be first and foremost appropriate with the business goals. 
 To conclude,  I think we’ve always been visual species ever since the original cave paintings. I think the tools and means to produce visual communication are more accessible lowering the barrier to entry. Also, the cost structure changed for photography, we no longer have to pay to develop each photo we take. This results in massive amount of photos being produced and consumed, which inevitably raises the level of visual literacy for this generation and next. 
 I also think there will be even more visual communication with future generations in ways we can’t anticipate. The entire snapchat phenomenon is fascinating to watch. Snapchat is used mostly by teenagers to send silly faces around and I think it’s a visual communication between two friends who simply found a way to make each other laugh. It’s great!

“The mobile photography experience is so fun it’s akin to playing a game”

You’re a big fan of Ansel Adams and you reference one of his quotes in your Instagram profile - “there are no shortcuts to excellence”. What is it about his photography that inspires you and why do these words particularly resonate with you. I study the masters to understand their secret sauce and to understand what makes a photo timeless and a classic. I understand Ansel Adams secret sauce to be his scene selection and pristine composition, he also spend a lot of time in darkroom, a step we now call post processing. Ansel obsessed about every detail and I aspire to that. I also love the work of many other masters, but I think you’ve already read my other interview so I wont repeat myself. The shortcuts to excellence quote is very apt for photography because many people think that a photo happens when someone pushes a button. Also, as the tools get simpler as with mobile photography, it’s easy to think we’ll be better photographers faster.  Simply push a button, pick a filter, and viola . While the technical side is a lot simpler now, great photography happens in the mind of the photographer.  That’s the focus of many of my posts. This quote also resonates with me because it serves as a reminder that I also need to push my photography into areas previously unexplored. It reminds me not to get content with my current skill set and to explore new areas. As mentioned before I recently ventured into experimental portraits and photoshop compositing. The road the excellence doesn’t have shortcuts and it never ends. What are your personal goals and aspirations with regard to your photography?

Photography has been my hobby for a very long time and there are advantages to that. I can be bold and experiment and push into risky areas because there is no single paycheck on the line. I intend to continue to push into new areas, experiment and learn. Stock photography is a new thing for me and I am eager to learn more about it.

I also enjoy what I do in my day job, so overall I am pretty happy camper.  As a product guy I am very intrigued with what you guys are trying to accomplish with RooM and I am excited and honored to be part of it.

This insta_view can be republished but it must credit RooM the Agency and link directly to the source.

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Introducing RooM Stock

RooM the Agency brings together photography visionaries, with a traditional stock photography platform and mobile connectivity.

It is a commercial platform for photographers, serious about producing and selling their images and establishing themselves as leading visual communicators using mobile communication channels as their key driver.

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