Miami Ironside

Within our GlobopTrotters blog section, we are going to include a probably-never-ending series of posts revealing great locations for photo shoots and events, mostly in Miami, Florida where we are located. First in line, Miami Ironside!

Location: 7610 NE 4th Ct, Miami, FL 33138
Contact: (305) 438-9002
Website: http://www.miamiironside.com/
Space type: Outdoors plazas and galerias, indoor spaces.
Character: Artsy, lofts.

Situated in the historic Upper Eastside's West Belle Meade neighborhood, Ironside (est. 2008) is a vibrant, multidisciplinary urban center envisioned by developer and designer Ofer Mizrahi - composed of 67 showrooms, studios, and coworking spaces that include a diverse grouping of architects, interior designers, material and furniture designers, boutique retailers, creative services and art galleries.

Reminiscent of Brera Design District Milano, Ironside is a unique, green environment, punctuated with rainbow eucalyptus trees, urban gardens and outdoor paths linking glass storefronts accented by public plazas' serviced by cafes, boutique retailers and showrooms.

Enjoy some of the photos we took yesterday on a visit with The Creative's Loft!

If you are interested in night sky photography in general or milky way photography in particular, this article published by Improve Photography is a must-read. The author, landscape and night sky photographer Kevin D. Jordan, goes step by step creating this ultimate guide to planning your after-dark field trips:

http://improvephotography.com/38555/ultimate-guide-planning-milky-way-photography/

Many retailers claim to offer fine art photography for sale, but very few actually do. It is fairly easy to make customers believe what they are buying is fine art. Good presentation, beautiful photography and a decent material quality will do it most of the times. The key here, and what most people miss, is the volume of prints available of one single image.

Traditional art (such as paintings and sculptures) almost always comes in limited edition fashion, so by definition, it qualifies as fine art. Photography, back in the day, qualified as well, as there was a limit to the amount of copies you could make out of a single plate before it started fading and losing definition and quality.

The issue arose when technology advances developed film to the point you could make infinite copies of a single photograph, which is even more true in today's digital era.

With these readily available means today, the ball is solely on the photographer's court. Some professionals prefer to sell volume at reduced prices, some prefer to focus on quality and a limited number of copies.

Don't get me wrong, both approaches are legit and have their purpose. What MUST be made clear is a volume approach IS NOT fine art. Ever. It may be the most beautiful image ever taken, printed on the latest available media, but it has no value whatsoever for collectors. It just has a cost, which is what you paid for it, making it a liability, not an asset. Unlimited number of copies make photographic prints not more valuable than a 25-cent postcard at a stand on a touristy beach or a $10 poster.

On the other side of the spectrum is the quality approach. Limited editions are defined as a series of one photograph, with a predefined number of copies, produced using the same technique, resulting in prints of identical size, format and material. No additional copies of the same photograph can ever be produced once the number of copies in the Limited Edition series is exhausted.

All this should be backed up with a Certificate of Authenticity, detailing at the very least the photograph title and its copy number within that limited edition. Globop Photography LLC also includes technical data about the photo and print production process as well as the photographer's signature and the company's seal.

Limited editions create actual value by themselves, just by the scarcity of copies available. When you acquire a copy of a limited edition, you are getting an asset that can only go up in value. Once a limited edition series is exhausted, the sold copies value in secondary markets can skyrocket, as it is impossible to find additional copies anywhere. No supply plus demand equals very high prices.

Buying limited edition fine art photography, is not really buying. It is investing on an asset that has real value as there is an embedded worth in every art piece.

Just remember this next time you are offered fake fine art prints and decide for yourself if you want to make a purchase or an investment.

Click here to find out more about our limited edition fine art photography

AEFONA (the Spanish Association of Nature Photographers) has released the 15th issue of its quaterly eMagazine Agenda Iris. This number features several photos of both of our photographers as well as a special 10-page feature of Javier Gil Vieco's portfolio.

You can download it for free here: http://www.aefona.org/publicaciones-aefona/iris-agenda-lnh/

Grand Teton National Park

This is the first post of our new series GlobopTrotters where the Globop Photography Team will take you to the ultimate photo locations where you will have access to unlimited photo opportunities to take your photography to the next level!

Today we are going to visit one of the best (and not so known) National Parks in the United States, Grand Teton N.P.

Quick Facts:

• It became the 20th established National Park in the United States on February 26th, 1929.
• The total area of the park is 480 square miles.
• It draws more than 2.5 million visitors every year.
• Neighbor to popular Yellowstone National Park.
• Human presence in the area dates back at least 11,000 years.

When to go:

Year-round. Grand Teton National Park and the entire Jackson Hole Valley area easily fall under the photographer's paradise category. Every season brings unlimited photo ops and no two days are alike in this beautiful setting.

The park is open year-round although many facilities and roads close for the winter season. The Teton Park Road is closed to vehicles from the Taggart Lake Trailhead to the Signal Mountain Lodge November 1 through April 30 or longer depending on snow conditions. During this period, the road is open to non-motorized recreation (skiing, snowshoeing, cycling, walking, rollerblading) depending on road conditions.

How to get there:

You can fly directly into Jackson Hole Airport (JAC). There are direct flights from multiple US cities. Some typical stops are Salt Lake City and Denver.

If traveling by car, U.S. Highway 89, aka John D. Rockefeller Parkway crosses the valley north-south,  connecting Salt Lake City, UT to Jackson, WY and all the way to Yellowstone National Park; U.S. Highway 26 provides access from the west (Idaho Falls, ID) and east (Casper, WY). From the south (Rock Springs, WY), U.S. Highway 191 crosses some beautiful landscapes before arriving at Jackson, WY.

What to photograph:

Grand Teton National Park is world-renowned for its wildlife viewing opportunities. Some of the most sought-after animals found inside the park include: moose, black and grizzly bears, pronghorn, elk, bald eagles, gray wolves, coyotes and bison. Be patient, pick a spot and enjoy nature. And most important, always be safe! Keep a generous distance to all animals.

Here are some key locations for wildlife viewing across the park:

• Oxbow Bend
• Willow Flats
• Moose-Wilson Road
• Gros Ventre River and Road

If you are looking for landscapes and natural scenery, this is also the perfect place for you. The presence of the Teton Range can be felt from anywhere in the valley. It is highly recommended to explore the park up and down by car at different times of the day as light and weather conditions in Wyoming are constantly changing.

Some of the classic spots are:

• Snake River Overlook, immortalized by Ansel Adams. Good for sunrise/sunset.
• Schwabacher's Landing. Great for sunrise.
• Oxbow Bend. Views of Mt. Moran.
• Anywhere along the Teton Park Road, really.

Activities in the park include hiking, camping, climbing, fishing, boating... If you are into any of these, you can find rare photo ops that the general public may not have access to.

The winners of the 2015 Wildlife Photographer of the Year have been announced! Follow the link below to find out more about it and enjoy some truly amazing images.

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/wpy/gallery/2015/index.html

Nature is giving us the opportunity to enjoy its beauty once again. The amazing lunar eclipse on Sunday and bloody supermoon have been delighting young and old for a few days. Many have used this special occasion to try and shoot exciting photographs but, how can we make the most of the moon's potential and express it in our photos? Mark Gee explains the best techniques to capture events like this. Check out his article "How-To: Photograph the Moon" featured in Popular Photography, as well as his own blog "The Art of Night". 

Blood Moon in Pictures: Total "Supermoon" Lunar Eclipse seen around the world - The Telegraph

We are excited to announce a new line of products. Our new Fine Art Sets give you the opportunity to enjoy unique fine art print compositions, featuring some of our best photographs. You can also choose from a selection of formats, sizes and materials and we'll keep adding new sets periodically!!

As part of our new blog series GlobopVogue, we will take you behind the scenes to show you what a photographer’s life is like.

To kick off this series, we are going to tell you the story behind the photographs Wild Delicacy and The Wanderer that proves how thin the line separating disastrous failure from massive success is.

These two images taken on June 16th, 2009, are arguably the most famous photographs taken by any of our two photographers to date and have been featured in several renowned international competitions. Wild Delicacy was a finalist in the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 2010 and the Wanderer won the Galen Rowell award in the category of landscape in the 8th Annual Competition of Nature Photography Ciutat de Vila-Real.

Following is a brief commentary by Félix Gil de la Casa, the photographer behind both photographs:

“Often, nature photography allows you to get ready for a shot with ample time to think of the best way to capture something or assemble the right equipment for it. For these two photos though, I did not get that luxury at all.

Walking from the Fairy Falls trail parking lot to the hill just south of the Grand Prismatic Spring, my wife and I saw a bison grazing a few hundred yards away to the east. The odds of spotting a bison crossing Grand Prismatic Spring are slim at best, since they tend to stay away from the extremely hot thermal waters, but just in case we accelerated our pace on the off chance the bison decided to move west.

We reached the hill and I started to set up the tripod, with the camera and lense attached, on the loose slope of unstable soil and rock. Suddenly, without notice, the bison showed up behind some trees on its way to the perfect trajectory, right across the southern edge of Grand Prismatic Spring, were a myriad of colorful trickles spill out the excess water from the fountain.

As I turned around to get ready, I realized the tripod had started to fall forward due to the slope. Luckily, I was quick enough to reach my arm, grab the falling equipment and avoid what would have surely been a disaster. There is no way the lense would have survived the fall, and the camera may have been damaged as well, ruining the whole 10-day field trip ahead.

The biggest frustration for a photographer is a destroyed equipment. Terrible feeling. I was tenths of a second away from it. Instead, I proceeded to take two memorable shots that have brought me plenty of joy!”.

Stay tuned for more insight stories at the GlobopStore blog!

Globop Photography focuses on the impact imagery has on people. Many research studies have proven the benefits and effects of the exposure to certain types of images on human behavior. For example, nature photos have a positive effect on patients in hospitals and care facilities, improving their overall health and shortening their recovery time. Also, people with access to natural forms and textures show increased focus and productivity.

Periodically, we will be sharing tips and research that help you understand the advantages of owning powerful photography and how it can help you live a better life! 

On June 30th 2015, Olga Khazan, a staff writer at The Atlantic, published an article about a research group from Stanford University that has studied the effect nature has reducing rumination. Rumination is a maladaptive pattern of self-referential thought that is associated with heightened risk for depression and other mental illnesses. To read more on this issue, go to the full article:

How Walking in Nature Prevents Depression.