Michael was a great family man, friend, and colleague and will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.

Michael’s stock photography personified our mission of providing generations of students with a reflection of the world’s ethnic and multcultural diversity that is seldom portrayed today.

We feel that the greatest honor for any artist is to recognize their work and the impact it has made in our lives.

Please take a few minutes to view a gallery featuring a few of our favorite Michael Newman images.

Sincerely,

Jesse Cantu, Chris Baldemor, Nikki Allen, Maria Deseo, Jessica Holley

PhotoEdit Inc. invites you to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and recognize the many contributions the AAPI community has made in the creation of the United States. Asian American senators fought for the recognition of an Asian American heritage week in the late ‘70s and chose May to commemorate the first Japanese immigrants who came to the U.S. on May 7^th 1843, as well as to celebrate the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869—most of the workers on the railroad were Chinese immigrants.

MSM055CC 016 001 | Cindy Charles | Poetry on Wooden Walls at Angel Island State Park tells plight of Asian immigrants detained at island due to 1882 racial exclusion laws, San Francisco, CA

The AAPI community is estimated to be at 16.6 million people in theU.S.and is one of the fastest growing minority communities. With roughly 30 ethnicities and over 100 languages that are represented under the Asian Pacific American umbrella, the struggles the AAPI community still faces are very complex and vary widely.

As a stock photography agency based in California, we’re aware that much of the history of struggles of the AAPI community is in our own backyard. So while we celebrate the diversity of accomplishments of the AAPI community, we also acknowledge the differences. In fact we have photos of Japanese internment camps in the Bay, Vietnam War protests, and Korean stores being looted during the LA riots on April 29^th, 1992 that serve as chilling reminders that the AAPI community has overcome numerous struggles and fights for integration not that long ago (check out a few photos at the end of the post).

With our agency now based in Costa Mesa, we are neighbors to a large Pacific Islander community and to the largest Vietnamese American community in the U.S. (Westminster and Santa Ana a.k.a. Little Saigon)–a rich community that still vividly remembers April 30^th as a reunification day and gathers to tell stories of the Vietnam War. The majority of our staff resides in Long Beach, where our Cambodian and Khmer neighbors continue to struggle with issues of poverty, having limited job opportunities, high school drop out rates (40% of Hmong, 38% of Laotian, and 35% of Cambodian populations do not complete high school), and young women/minors being sexually exploited.

We encourage photographers to take advantage of this month and capture the stories and struggles of your own families and other AAPI communities who are in your own backyards, in your morning commutes, where you eat, or where you get your nails done.

Below are a few of PhotoEdit Inc’s historical photos from our growing AAPI collection. Click through the link to view or license more AAPI photos in our collection: Asian Pacific American Photos

USH001BA 009 001 | Bill Aron | Historic black and white photo of a civilian exclusion order calling for the removal of persons of Japanese ancestry posted on a street in San Francisco, CA

CAL171DYW006 001 | David Young-Wolff | Monument at the cemetery in Manzanar War Relocation Center, site of one of the ten camps used for the imprisonment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, located in Owens Valley, California

DIS561MN 001 001 | Michael Newman | Korean store owners defend themselves with sticks during 92 Los Angeles riots

Here are a few blogs about Asian Pacific Heritage Month and cool posts about AAPI leaders, photographers, artists, and media gurus:

Hyphen Magazine (doing two posts per week in May about Asian American leaders entitled “Unsung Heroes”)

VisualizAsian (Asian American Empowerment Series–interviews with leaders)

AsianPacificHeritage (info on the month, history, and educational tools)

This week’s new images include travel photos of Mexico and Cuba, stunning commercial shots, school closures and the Dream Act, as well as some powerful photography portraying grief…all in the slideshow above.

View All Images

Photographers featured in slideshow:

Kim Karpeles
Novastock
Laurie Allread
Ron Buskirk
Jeff Greenberg
Bill Bachmann
Odell Mitchell Jr. Photography
Cindy Charles
Bob Daemmrich
Jim West

All the images above and many more can be found and licensed at www.photoeditinc.com .

Last week, David Snyder  gave helpful tips on shooting on location outdoors. In this week’s guest post, David gives his thoughts on group photography and how to ensure that the photos you take end up being usable. Check out his article below on how to take a winning group photo the next time you’re out in the field!

Fit ‘Em In – Tips for Group Photography (By David Snyder)

One of the most common types of photos I see from field staff of most NGO’s is a group shot – all of the conference-goers crowded around a sign or on the front step of the meeting hall.

My first piece of advice for such photos is usually this – don’t take them. Such photos are rarely if ever useful for the websites, calanders, and promotional pieces for which field shots are needed.

I’m not sure why, but we seem to have it in our brains that group shots are best – just think back on mom crowding you and your siblings together for a posed shot around the birthday cake.  But, sometimes group shots are helpful, especially less formally posed shots such as students in class or farmers working together in a cooperative, to give two examples. Here is how to take better group shots next time you are in the field.

TIP 1 – AVOIDING AWKWARD POSED SHOTS AND MAKING USE OF SPACE

To avoid the awkward posed shot, try to take your group photos when subjects are engaged in some kind of activity. If kids are in class and you need a group shot of the students, photograph them while they are working on an assignment.

The best way to take usable group shots is to maximize the use of the space of the image – ie, fill the entire image left to right, or top to bottom, with subjects.

If you are posing subjects, rather than standing them side by side, the most common pose for group subjects, stagger your subjects from front to back if you have a manageable number, and place the subject closest to you in the left or right third of the horizontal image. The other subjects will not be as sharply focused as the subject closest to the camera, but the composition will be much more appealing (see image below).

David Snyder for JAM

Try placing one subject in the foreground – center in this case because it is a vertical image – and the other subjects staggered right and left behind that subject, rather than side by side.

TIP 2 – TAKING LARGE GROUP PHOTOS

If you must take a large group photo, such as that of a graduating class, in which all of them need to be in the same photo, there are tricks. One, try to make use of stairs that can lift subjects in the back of the photo above those in the front, always being conscious that every face needs to be visible. Place your taller subjects in the back, and use chairs for a few subjects in the front of the image to sit on to change the heights of the faces. In many cases, the best use of a chair is to stand on it yourself (see photo below). By standing on a chair, you can look down over the faces in the front of the image and capture those in rows 2 and beyond. Posed group photos always require some orchestrating (think of the assistant to the wedding photographer – a job that must surely be punishment for some horrid crime committed in a previous life). You cannot be shy about directing people exactly where to stand so that their faces are visible.

Finally, take lots of photos. A good general rule is to take one photo for every person in the picture. This may seem like overkill, especially if you have a group of 15 or 20 people. But you can always delete later. I promise you that someone in every photo will have their eyes closed, or will be laughing or looking down or looking away or talking to the person next to them when everyone else is right on pose (as in the picture below). With groups, one person can ruin a good photo of 20 people, so make sure you get the shot you need.

Always take lots of photos of posed groups to avoid people looking away or appearing otherwise distracted in a shot, as several subjects are here.

About David

David Snyder is a professional photojournalist and writer. He has over 12 years of experience as a writer, editor and photographer for NGOs and foundations and has photographed relief and development projects in over 55 countries.

To view or license images from David’s collection at PhotoEdit Inc. click through the following link: David Snyder Collection

This week’s new images are a highlight of our favorite portraits, travel, and current events shots. Native American couples, maternity, Egypt celebrations, and culture all in this week’s slideshow above!

View All Images

Photographers featured in slideshow:

David Young-Wolff
PhotoStock-Israel
Jim West
Gary Conner
Michael Newman
Spencer Grant

All the images above and many more can be found and licensed at www.photoeditinc.com

David Snyder is a professional photojournalist and writer. He has over 12 years of experience as a writer, editor and photographer for NGOs and foundations and has photographed relief and development projects in over 55 countries. In his guest post learn some tips on how to take images in bright sunlight. Don’t miss David’s tips on group photography being posted next week!

Summer Photo Tip – Better Vacation Photos
By David Snyder

Apparently some people can still  afford to take summer vacations. Whether vacation takes you to the community pool or to somewhere that requires a visa, it’s likely you’ll take your camera. Often,  however, the photos we take on vacation are a disappointment – not quite catching the magic of a desert sunset or the expressions on our kid’s faces at the beach, lost in the shadow cast by a baseball cap. Here are a few quick tips to help you take better vacation photos of a range of situations and subjects.

TIP 1 – BECOME A FLASHER

One of the most popular subjects for vacation shots is people – our friends and family enjoying a day at the water park or on the edge of the Grand Canyon. If your portrait photos take place outside on a sunny day, I’ll offer the tip I’ve offered many times before: use a flash.

This may confuse your camera, especially if you have an automated point-and-shoot type. The camera sensor will read that you have plenty of light to take a good photo, and that you do not need a flash.

But if your subject is in full sun, part or all of his or her face will be obscured by shadow, either from a hat or simply from the features of the face itself. Many professionals will not shoot photos at all during mid-day (if they are spoiled  prima donna’s who don’t mind wasting their client’s time and money) for exactly this reason.

A flash, used during the day, will help to fill in the shaded areas of a subject’s face, particularly the eyes, without overpowering the features themselves.

Just as your camera can sense the amount of light available, it will also be able to automatically sense how bright to make the flash, and will thus be able to throw a softer, more subtle flash to fill in the shadows without overexposing the subject. To do this, you may have to override your camera’s flash setting if it is set to “off” or “auto”. To do so on most cameras, simply scroll through the menu or use the setting knob until you find the flash sign – almost always an icon that looks like a jagged bolt of lightning. Turn the flash to “on”, and use the camera on your outdoor subjects mid day. If you have a more advanced camera, you can learn to use your aperture and shutter speed to avoid using a flash as much. Practice opening your aperture to overexpose your image by a stop or two beyond what the camera’s light meter may be telling you. Remember: always expose for the shadow, not the highlight.

Below is an example.

TIP 2 – USE THE LANDSCAPE

Landscapes are popular vacation photos. Whether you are at the beach or in the mountains, learn to orient your camera and your body in ways that most effectively capture the landscape you are shooting. If that is a beach scene, you may be fine with a horizontal image. Try to avoid too much plain blue or gray sky – it’s boring.

A good general rule might be to fill no more than 1/3  of your image with sky.

If you are shooting  a mountainous or forested landscape, you may be better served by turning your camera vertically to more closely mirror the lines of the subject. No matter the orientation of the camera, be aware of filling all three thirds of the image space – the foreground, middle space and background – with some sort of subject (See the image below of tourists in Namibia). A person against a landscape, as in this photo, also helps with scale.

TIP 3 – KNOW YOUR CAMERA

OK, this one is a bit dull.

But in my experience all of us can learn to take better photos simply by actually reading the instruction manual that came with the camera and learning at least the basics.

Even on simple point-and-shoot cameras there are often settings that allow us some measure of control over any given shooting situation. Do you know what the little symbol of a mountain means on your camera? How about the one with an eye, or the one that shows a flower? All of these are settings you can use to control the aperture and shutter speed of your camera – and thus control such elements as exposure compensation (making a photo brighter or darker) or depth of field (the ability to have more or less of your subject in focus in any given image). Pick up the manual before you go, read it, and then experiment with a few of the settings. When you look at them on your computer screen later on, you will be able to see the difference between the pictures using the different settings.  Good luck, and have fun. Remember, you can always delete.

To view or license images from David’s collection at PhotoEdit Inc. click through the following link: David Snyder Collection

Our last Women’s History Month slideshow is a collection of photos of hard-core athletes. We do love that a woman caught mid-air vaulting over a pole or working some crazy leg muscles in a sprint provides for an awesome photo, but of course we chose athletes as our last Women’s History Month photo focus for more than just this reason. Shots of women in sports are an opportunity to provide very literal representations of positive women role models. Often the only positive images of women we see in media are few instances of women in sports mixed in with a bunch of other overly sexualized content. Considering this, it’s unfortunate that media covers women’s sports at a lower rate than men’s sports. Well, it’s more than unfortunate since representations of women in sports can encourage and reinforce healthy behaviors at an early age. Below check out some of our favorite shots of women athletes who continue to inspire young girls in positive ways.

Slideshow Series

Slideshow Part I: Women Around the World
Slideshow Part II: Fighters, Leaders & Survivors
Slidewho Part III: Women’s Work

Slideshow Part IV: Hard-core Athletes

(Click here to view all images of this slideshow on the PhotEdit Inc. website. All images are available for licensing.)

We hope to bring you more of these kinds of photos in the future. It’s a well known fact that current representations of women in media cause young girls to develop many issues including depression, excessive dieting (with some girls starting dieting as early as third grade), eating disorders, anxiety and many other mental health problems related to body image (and multiply that times “x” if you’re a girl of color, disabled, or a disabled girl of color!). Those who looked up to either a woman playing sports on TV or who had an older sister who played sports, often decide to follow in their footsteps, and it’s a good thing they do! Whether they’re putting on a football helmet or a pair of ballet slippers, girls who participate in sports have higher self-confidence; have less body image issues;  are less likely to have an unintended pregnancy; are less likely to be involved in drugs; and are more likely to graduate from high school than girls who do not play sports. Unsurprisingly, the majority of women who are presidents of Fortune 500 companies and other businesses often site that as young girls they played sports and were “tom-boyish” (source: Women’s Sports Foundation). So if you’re a photographer and hard-core women athlete shots are your thing…thank you!

As part of our Women’s History Month/International Women’s Day 100 Year Anniversary slideshow series, we wanted our third set of  photographs to represent “Women’s Work” around the world. While it was difficult to pick just a few images, we finally decided to choose women who were shown entering jobs/roles traditionally seen as male, women raising families/working with children, and women working in sectors we often take for granted: sweatshop labor, migrant workers, farmworkers, vendors, etc.

Slideshow Series

Slideshow Part I: Women Around the World
Slideshow Part II: Fighters, Leaders & Survivors

Slideswhow Part III: Women’s Work

(Click here to view all images of this slideshow on the PhotEdit Inc. website. All images are available for licensing.)

We wanted the selected photos to be a representation of the very real issues women face globally. So aside from having depictions of women breaking career boundaries, we felt it necessary that our slideshow also highlight that women in 2011 still face many challenges including the following: women make up 70 percent of the world’s people living in poverty;  women comprise only 3% of CEOs among Fortune 500 companies; women globally own only 1% of the world’s assets; and women also typically spend twice the time men do taking care of children, shopping for the family, and doing household chores often working up to 16 hour days. These complex issues are in part due to the types of jobs, training, and education women have access to worldwide—our women’s work slideshow just barley scratches the surface of the issues women face in the world’s workforce.

Statistics aside, for PhotoEdit Inc. many of the issues depicted in the images we chose hit close to home. While of course none of these images are the exact story of our families, the idea conveyed behind them rings true for our staff considering that most of the PE staff comes from working class families, including staff in our management positions. As a kid I used to work alongside my mom and sisters seasonally making hosiery for Nordstrom’s and Frederick’s of Hollywood. Lingerie, wedding garters, sexy hosiery…that was us “making it” in Southern California for minimum wage. The rest of our staff, despite now having an education and a job where we can work behind desks, all have similar stories we can tell of our mothers trying to raise us either here or abroad. As such, we feel a personal tie to honoring the work of the women in these photos who represent our own struggles and larger global issues, and to thanking our photographers who provide accurate image representations that remind us of the gender work there is still left to do.

“Our History is Our Strength” is the theme of this year’s Women’s History Month. On March 8th we celebrated 100 years of International Women’s Day, but it wasn’t until 1987 that a full month was set aside to celebrate the contributions of women. While contributions of women are acknowledged during March, this month is also a time to reflect on the needs of women and girls across the world. In this week’s Women’s History Month Part II Slideshow we selected photos from the past and present that capture women’s strength and also in some way reflect women’s issues/needs at home and abroad.

Whether women are advocating for reproductive justice, trying to end domestic violence, entering politics, or fighting in the face of disaster and lack of infrastructure, we recognize that women’s issues around the world are varied and many. So quite frankly, it was almost impossible to condense so much history into a 45 image slideshow!  Below are just a few of our inspiring favorite photos of fighters, leaders and survivors.

Women’s History Month Slideshow Schedule

Part I: Women Around the World (March 8th)
Part II: Fighters, Leaders, and Survivors (March 14th, BELOW)
Part III: Women’s Work (March 21st)
Part IV: Hard-core Athletes (March 28th)

Slideshow Part II: Fighters, Leaders & Survivors

(Click here to view all images of this slideshow on the PhotEdit Inc. website. All images are available for licensing.)

Click to view slideshow.

Main photo by Dwayne Newton

Click here to view last week’s slideshow Part I: Women Around the World

To celebrate the 100 Year Anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8th, 2011 and Women’s History Month, we’d like to share a weekly slideshow of some of our favorite photos of women around the world. Today’s slideshow is entitled just that, “Women Around the World” and is Part 1 of a four part slideshow. This week we’ve picked out some of our favorite portraits that very simply capture women’s strength, beauty and culture around the globe. Check back each Monday in March for the next three slideshows showcasing some fierce women.

Part I: Women Around the World (March 8th BELOW)
Part II: Fighters, Leaders, and Survivors (March 14th)
Part III: Women’s Work (March 21st)
Part IV: Hard-core Athletes (March 28th)

Slideshow Part 1: Women Around the World

(Click here to view all images of this slideshow on the PhotEdit Inc. website. All images are available for licensing.)

Click to view slideshow.

Of course, we know that there is more to International Women’s Day than celebrating women’s strength and their role in the handing down of culture. 100  years ago we saw women and men gathering around the world advocating for the right for women to vote, work, be trained, and to end discrimination. Today women are still at the forefront of human rights movements advocating for some of the very same issues the world faced in 1911: peace and justice; an end to poverty; equal work, pay, and training; and reproductive justice to name a few. We’d like to acknowledge the liberation struggles, hard-work, and victories of women and have picked out the photos in our collection we feel best represent these stories.

Our next three slideshows will tell the stories of women who are the backbone of many social movements and who are fighters, leaders, survivors and role models in their own ways, be they mothers, farm-workers, organizers, or glass ceiling breakers. Through these slideshows we’d like to acknowledge and thank the women depicted in these photos and those like them who are working hard and struggling to create a better future for themselves, families, and the world, and who are daily changing how young girls view themselves.

Don’t forget to check back each Monday in March to view the next three slideshows!