2021 was a year full of surprises, many of them, perhaps, unwelcome, but some that were quite pleasant. In the quite pleasant category, Digital Photo Pro saw record website traffic growth this past year with readers flocking to our photography coverage including our photo gear reviews, our profiles of photographers, our tips and techniques, business and marketing advice, and our new “How I Made It” behind-the-photo series.
What spurred DPP’s flurry of web traffic in 2021? The following should give you some idea. It’s our list of Digital Photo Pro‘s top 10 most popular stories of the year, which covers a diverse range of photography topics.
Included in our top ten is everything from a behind-the-scenes interview with a Sports Illustrated swimsuit photographer, to tips on how to pose female and male clients for portrait sessions, and an early review of the Canon EOS R3 from a pro who used this much buzzed about camera at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
To read a full story included on our list, either click on the headline or hit the “More” link at the bottom of the excerpt. Thanks for visiting Digital Photo Pro‘s website in 2021 and we look forward to producing more compelling photography content for you in 2022! (Editor’s note: You can see the top 10 most popular stories on our sister site, Digital Photo, here.)
#1 How I Made It: The Story Behind Laretta Houston’s Swimsuit Shot of Winnie Harlow
There’s something liberating about Laretta Houston’s photo of Winnie Harlow at the top of this story. Shot for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, Houston captures Harlow in a moment of pure release, her back arched and head tilted towards the sun as the milky surf churns below her. (More…)
#2 Anita Sadowska’s Scintillating Swimwear Photography
Like many people during the pandemic, I spent a lot of time on YouTube this past year. One of the YouTube channels I visited regularly belongs to Anita Sadowska, a swimwear, fashion and portrait photographer based in Bali, Indonesia. I’m not the only one who stopped by her channel this past year. (More…)
#3 Scott Nathan: Start with the Star
Nowhere is the 10,000-hour rule more applicable than photography. Since it takes at least 10,000 hours of practice to excel, fashion and beauty photographer Scott Nathan is lucky he started at an early age and continued shooting right through his first few careers. (More…)
#4 How to Pose Female Clients for Flattering Portraits
Knowing how to pose women for flattering photos is essential to having a successful portrait photography career. But even some experienced pros might need a refresher course on great poses for non-models. That’s where Jerry Ghionis comes in with his excellent tutorial with tips on how to pose women. (More…)
#5 Book Review: Albert Watson on Creating Photographs
Albert Watson’s iconic fashion, celebrity and fine art images have graced the covers of magazines such as Vogue, Rolling Stone and Time, among many others. Major companies have enlisted his photographic talents for their ad campaigns, he has directed commercials, creating images for movie posters—the list is never ending. (More…)
#6 Sylvie Blum: Natural Beauty
As a teenager in Germany, Sylvie Blum had a photograph hanging on her bedroom wall created by famed Hollywood-based celebrity and fine-art photographer Greg Gorman. Decades later, she not only would join the ranks of world-renowned photographers, but she would be enjoying a glass of GKG Cellars’ wine created by Gorman while they sat poolside at her studio in the shadow of the Hollywood sign. (More…)
#7 Sarah Silver: Moving Beauty
Sarah Silver’s love of photography began in her grandfather’s darkroom. This love has never waned, but she has explored dramatically different genres of the visual medium throughout her career. (More…)
#8 How Good Is the Canon R3? A Review from a Pro
Canon made a splash this year when it announced the EOS R3 camera. The R3, which sits at the top of Canon’s full frame mirrorless line, wasn’t available to the general public, at first, but a few lucky photographers were able to shoot with the camera. One of those photographers is Jeff Cable who used the 24-megapixel R3 extensively during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this past summer. (More…)
#9 How to Pose Men: 10 Minutes of Tips & Techniques
It’s no secret that most male wedding and portrait clients don’t know how to pose themselves properly. That’s why it’s always good to have a refresher course on the fundamentals of how to pose men to ensure you capture flattering photos that will please your clients. (More…)
#10 The 7 Best Photo Printers for Photographers in 2021
Digital images are everywhere in modern life but there’s something about a printed photo that can still get people excited about photography. Whether you’re creating a photo album for wedding clients, selling individual prints on your website, or printing out photos to hang in your next gallery show, a printed image has depth, texture, and weight that can’t be matched on a computer screen. (More…)
