While filled with many nooks and crannies, the site is a delight to navigate and is overflowing with Arma's irrepressible portraits of cherubic-faced kids dressed to thrill. Arma is a true Renaissance man in the world of baby photography. He's published 34 books, including We're Going on Safari that's filled with pictures of adorable tykes in animal costumes, and a commercial for the Cincinnati Zoo that is, well, cute! (Click "TV Ad" to see it.) The Tom Arma Store has books, costume patterns, and ready-made costumes at affordable prices. If you photograph babies, you should be using Arma's costumes to increase sales. Like any genius, he makes it look easy, but I've talked to people who photograph babies and know it's a challenge. That Arma gets such wonderful expressions, poses, and attitudes from his subjects says a lot about his character and what a genuinely nice guy he must be.

www.markmartinphoto.com
Mark Alan Martin is a Nashville photographer who has two galleries of headshots on his website--one with color and another with black and white photographs. There are two ways a photographer can do headshots: one approach is to do a cookie-cutter method and do 'em quick and cheap. The other is to create headshots that make a statement, that do a job of selling the subject to potential clients as well as the photographer. Martin has adopted the latter approach and both galleries are brimming with creative headshots that belong in the twilight zone between portrait and promotion, with many moving into territory formerly occupied by environmental portraits and beauty.

As much as I admired his color headshots, including an awesome two shot, his black and white headshots are off the charts! These are not paint-by-number images but reflect the individuality of the subject; that's something a headshot is supposed to do but few accomplish. Martin's in Nashville so you expect musicians, and his Musicians gallery doesn't disappoint. It is filled with color and monochrome images that show the styles and people of the music scene while demonstrating Martin's skill behind the camera. There are other galleries, including incredible kids photographs in Children and great portraits of people at work in the Industrial gallery. Martin tells me he is planning to make some changes in the site's design by the time you read this, but one thing that won't change is the quality of his image making.

© 2006, Mark Martin, All Rights Reserved