Joe Farace

Shortly after I moved into my former home, there was a knock at the door. Standing in front of me was an 8-year-old girl who lived down the street. “I’m selling note cards,” she told me, “I made the pictures.” A second look showed subjects a kid might shoot but others demonstrated that she was thinking about the photographs before making them. I bought several note cards and asked about her camera, which turned out to be borrowed. With her grandmother’s permission I gave her an old, unused digital point-and-shoot. The girl loved the camera and was inspired to keep making photographs and we talked from time to time about her aspirations. Today she’s a young woman with professional ambitions.

How much do I hate smartphones? Let me count the ways. But seriously, they aren’t going away anytime soon and many photographers, although not moi, have found clever ways to harness the power of these mobile devices. That said, I do own a smartphone albeit an older model and am on many social media platforms.

“Now join hands, and with your hands your hearts.”—William Shakespeare

There is more to wedding photography than capturing the image. Afterward there’s more work involved getting all of those images sorted, edited, and prepared for the web or albums for the happy couple and their parents. This month, I’ll introduce you to a few software and hardware tools that...

I think Mr. Erwitt’s talking about “the way you see” is the best advice for any photographer no matter what their experience level may be. One way to open your mind and eyes to different ways of seeing the world is to look at other people’s images, and that’s one of my goals with this column. Helping us with that today are four Shutterbug readers who bring their own unique views of the world to bear on the art and craft of photography.