Mike Kelley Photography Tutorials

About Mike Kelley

Michael Kelley (mpkelley.com) is a Los Angeles-based architectural and fine art photographer with a background in digital art and sculpture. Using his backgrounds in the arts, he creates images that are surreal and otherworldly, yet lifelike and believable. A frequent traveler, Michael's personal work focuses on the built environment of unique

Popular Articles from Mike Kelley
Go Behind The Scenes With Peter Lik As He Creates Stunning Images of NYC

Love him or hate him, you can't deny that Peter Lik's got quite the penchant for getting the shot. In this video, Peter takes us deep into some abandoned subway tunnels and high over the skyscrapers of NYC as he shows us some of the locations and setups that he uses to create his photographs. We get a nice look at the finished results, which, to me at least,

[News] And the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography Goes to...

Massoud Hossaini, who is also the first Afghani to win a Pulitzer Prize. Hossaini's work captures the horrors of violence that occur in Afghanistan on a regular basis. The photo was captured just as a suicide bomber took his own life and that of many others in the vicinity. A girl dressed in green screams as blood runs down her face, and she is surrounded by bodies of the wounded and dead.

[BTSV] Fighting G-Forces For An Air & Space Cover

This has to be one of the most awesome opportunities that could be granted to a photographer. Last fall, Ed Darack was asked to shoot a cover for Air & Space Magazine, and decided to show the world how he did it. Check out the video in the full post.
Bringing Pan Am Back To Life: Photographing And Lighting The First Class Cabin of a 747

I’m a bit of a dreamer. I’m also a huge aviation geek, and I often catch myself browsing the web at 2am looking up articles on aviation and aviation history. So when I found Anthony Toth and learned more about his life’s work, I knew that I had my next personal photography project in mind. As I'm mostly an architectural photographer, I got bored of waiting around for an airline to hire me to photograph their next ad campaign, so I decided to hire myself into my dream gig.

See 50 GoPros Work Together To Create The Happiest Matrix Remake Ever

Devin Graham, better known by his internet alias Devin Supertramp, recently created this video (and BTS piece) that utilized over 50 GoPro cameras to capture dogs jumping and playing as if they were Neo dodging bullets in the blockbuster film The Matrix. If this doesn't make you crack at least a tiny smile, I'm pretty sure you may be Scrooge himself. For a behind-the-scenes look at how this was made, check out the video after the jump.

Fstoppers Rapid-Fire Interview With Fine Art Photographer And Surrealist Tara Minshull

Tara Minshull is a rather successful fine art photographer based in Los Angeles who specializes in conceptual and cinematic images, oftentimes utilizing mixed media to realize her vision. Tara was kind enough to give us some of her time for an interview, in which she discusses the merits of art school, her motivations and the constantly evolving themes of her work.

Fstoppers Reviews The Singh-Ray Variable Neutral Density Filter: A Must For Any Landscape Photographer

Most photographers and videographers have felt the need to slow down their shutter speeds on more than one occasion: whether you're a landscape photographer looking to get scintillating blurry water and clouds, a portrait photographer trying to slow down a shutter speed to use shallow depth of field with a wide aperture, or a videographer in search of that cinema-like look. While there are a number of solutions, one of the most well-known and most flexible is the Singh-Ray Variable Neutral Density Filter.

Trey Ratcliff's New Zealand Timelapse Is A Breathtaking Six Minute Trip to Mordor

Trey Ratcliff, the world's foremost HDR guru, recently relocated to Queenstown, New Zealand, which is quite possibly the most beautiful little town in the world. He just released a timelapse video of his first thirty days and thirty nights spent in the town, and it is definitely worth a watch - especially in the native 4k format. Wow! Whether or not you like Trey's work (we all know how polarizing it is) this little video

The Most Impressive Display Of Light Painting You'll Ever See

Architectural photographer Mike Butler did not hold back at all when he was commissioned to create an image for the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami, FL. In this video, we get a behind-the-scenes look at everything that goes into a high-end commercial architecture shot. To make this one shot happen, multiple days of planning were

[Video] Breathtaking Timelapse of an Insane Asylum

There are some styles of photography which have been beaten into the ground. Take, for example, the trip to an old asylum; it seems like we've all seen a thousand HDR images of the local loony bin. Graffiti-covered walls, derelict operating rooms and spooky wheelchairs ad-nauseum. But every once in awhile, something comes along which makes my jaw drop and revisits what is possible in an ages-old subject. Drew Geraci's Asylum is exactly what I'm talking about.

[Video] Erik Johansson Discusses His Mind-Bending Photography

At a recent TED Talk, conceptual photographer Erik Johansson broke down his approach and method into a bite-size chat. While many photographers consider their work finished as soon as they hit the shutter button, apply contrast, and upload to Flickr, Erik decides to take it further (quite a bit further, in fact). His images make you stop and think and may take a few minutes to sink in. If you're one of those who asks "yeah, but is it photography?" don't say I didn't warn you. Check out the video in the full post.
My Photo Went Viral, And Nothing Could Have Prepared Me For What Happened After

A little bit over a week ago, I went to Los Angeles International Airport to make a photo. It was a clear day, and I didn't want to waste it sitting inside. Being an aviation fan myself, as well as an occasional pilot and aerial photographer, watching planes, to me, is hardly the worst way to pass the time. As it turns out, making this photo would lead to one of the craziest weeks of my entire life.

BTS: A Look Into The Creation Of The Beautiful 'Star Trek Into Darkness' CG Title Scene

It's always fascinating to get a glimpse behind the scenes of high-budget productions, and Andrew Kramer of Video Copilot provides us with an absolutely wonderful look into the creation of the title design and introduction scenes for Star Trek Into Darkness. The best part? The plugin used to create many of the effects only costs $150.

Karst Country: A Haunting Infrared Timelapse Of The Australian Countryside

Karst Country is a collaboration between artists Glen Ryan and Phil Ryan that has resulted in some absolutely surreal infrared imagery. This timelapse, shot with both RED Epic and Scarlet cameras at 4k resolution, is a joy to watch. I always find it so refreshing to see when new techniques are integrated into timelapse movies. For a few BTS images and some musings from the creators, be sure to check out their blog, which can be found here.