Photographer Profiles

Tara Wray found a way to turn a personal dark cloud into a hope-filled ray of sunshine for thousands of others. A highly esteemed and award-winning filmmaker and photographer, Tara generously shares some images from her latest book, Year of the Beast, and answers some photography questions for Shutterbug.

(Editor’s Note: Exploring Light is a monthly Shutterbug column featuring tips, tricks, and photo advice from professional photographers in Canon’s Explorer’s of Light education program. This month's column is by Gregory Heisler on his approach to creating an environmental portrait. 

Today is World Photography Day, an annual event when people across the globe pay homage to the art and craft of photography, encourage others to pursue a career or hobby in image making, and share the photographs they find most meaningful.

Candid street photography is all about timing, and recognizing the precise moment your subject is perfectly positioned in the frame. It’s this ability to press the shutter in a split of a second that results in a great image.

On September 9, 2019, legendary photographer Robert Frank died at the age of 94. At the heart of Frank's photographic legacy was his groundbreaking book "The Americans." As one critic wrote about that seminal book: "(it) changed the nature of photography, what it could say and how it could say it. It remains perhaps the most influential photography book of the 20th century."

I spoke with Pepper Yandell only days before he left for Dubai on an automotive assignment. In fact, while he does shoot domestically, many of his jobs take him overseas, to the United Arab Emirates, Europe, Asia, and South America. And sometimes the work even extends to aviation. But the project doesn’t end in camera.

Cheryl Dunn’s excellent 2013 documentary about street photography, “Everybody Street,” has been available for rent (or as a purchasable download) on Vimeo for several years now but few know that you can also watch it for free on YouTube. The movie is available on FilmRise Features’ YouTube channel and we have embedded it below.