Five-Minute Portrait Challenge: Pye Versus Lee Versus Patrick
A few days, ago we published three anonymous pictures and asked you to vote on your favorite. Now, you can watch the entire challenge and see who the winner was.
A few days, ago we published three anonymous pictures and asked you to vote on your favorite. Now, you can watch the entire challenge and see who the winner was.
30 Years of BAD Pictures from Bruce Dale on Vimeo.
Constructive Criticism is a unicorn in online photography groups; much sought after, but rarely found. Good constructive criticism, or CC as it's often referred to, can be some of the most helpful and growth inducing feedback a photographer can receive but, in the wrong hands, it can be a sword that cuts confidence to ribbons. Here is how to give, and receive, CC in a way that wont destroy your soul.
Handmade selling is on the rise and with it comes an increasing number of new product photographers. Quality product photography is essential for marketing your goods, but it doesn't need to be expensive or overly technical. In fact, there are some easy things that you can adjust that will help elevate your product photographs to the next level!
Capturing the launch of a space shuttle is undoubtedly a tremendous task to take on. Add to that the pressure of capturing the last space shuttle launch and you may have one of the most immense photographic endeavours of your career. In a very passionate and insightful video talk, Dan Winters takes us through the process of accomplishing said task. From his emotional relationship with capturing launches, to diagrams of his camera setups, Winters not only shows us how he captured his incredible photos, but conveys what doing so meant to him as a photographer as well as a human being.
Nosh: 404 from Firespotter Labs on Vimeo.
In this behind the scenes lighting lesson, Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens does something we might not often think to do: he uses the natural sunlight and turns it into moonlight-like light for this 1920's "speakeasy-themed" shoot. Believe it or not, he was able to achieve moonlight all in the camera - no post processing involved. So with a couple of tungsten lights, gels and sunlight, Jay P. has shown us a great idea that can easily be mimicked in your own shoot.
The behind-the-scenes series of our cityscape tutorial with Elia Locardi continues with episode 11. In this episode we fly on one of the longest flights in the world, from N.Y.C. to Singapore. We enjoy seeing the sights of this amazing city and we also try eating some chicken feet. Spoiler: they were awful.
You've probably seen some pretty comical behind-the-scenes images of the kinds of positions photographers put themselves in just to get a shot. They climb trees, hang off cliffs, stand in the middle of rivers, lay down in the dirt, all just to frame up that perfect shot. Well there's almost always a reason behind the madness and sometimes those reasons end up having a much bigger impact than most people might expect. Sometimes it's about getting a really intriguing angle on a particular subject, but I find myself laying in the dirt quite a lot just so I can create a composition that carries more depth. Let's compare a couple different shots that can help make some sense of this.
Sometimes we photographers get caught up in things that we think will help our work: the latest camera, more powerful lighting, lighter tripods, etc. It’s easy to forget that keeping it simple and getting an idea executed properly is the most important part of what we do.
Polish photographer Emil Stankiewicz’s has created a unique, handmade Talbotype camera nicknamed Idlozi, which means “window to your heritage soul.” Each unique image captured by the wooden camera starts as a paper negative which is then rephotographed with the same box camera to yield a positive print. The camera also known as a “street camera” or “á la minute camera” are inspired by Henry Fox Talbot’s calotype, the British inventor who was able to create a paper negative from which positive prints could be contact printed.
I experienced one of the photographic highlights of my life capturing the beauty of the midnight sun on my recent trip to the Lofoten Islands in Norway. Here are three tips on how to make the most of your next summer journey north of the Arctic Circle.
Nope, we're not joking. Photographer Kotama Bouabane is creating photographs using coconuts. While he used the fruit in several different ways to create images, his most interesting method simply involves tape, a coconut, and some photo paper! Read on and check out the video for more!
For most people who know the name Edvard Munch, there’s an immediate association with his iconic painting, "The Scream.” This artist, fabled for his emotionally impactful painting, is not known for his photographs, but his lens-based work will soon be available for fans of art and photography.
New Orleans, Louisiana. If you’ve been following along, you may remember me mentioning at some point that starting around the beginning of July, my girlfriend Holly, our dog Olive, and I, will be giving up our apartment, putting almost everything we own into storage, and hitting the open road for at least two to six months.
The final episode of this season of Photographing The World Behind The Scenes is finally here. In episode eight, we finally wrap up three months of filming and to celebrate, I go bungee jumping and Patrick takes a ride on the worlds tallest swing.
Nebulous cities, misty forests, and magic sunrays make a perfect subject for photography in the cold winter. Here, I share some tips and ideas for shooting mist and fog.
I shot and edited a narrative film in the last month. It was a first for me. I had this scene in my mind of a person burying a suitcase or bag in the woods, like it’s something he or she wanted to hide or get away from. I had a second idea about a guy walking down a long passage way and knocking on a door with no one opening for him. I decided these two contrasting visual ideas will be my story.
Trying to create the most unique photograph of a landscape is hard to do, especially if it's a well-known photo hotspot like Iceland. But these two local photographers revisited the same spot over and over to produce wildly different and stunning images.
Pirelli, known on this site mostly for their (NSFW) Calendar Photoshoots, also creates their TV spots with a high-level approach. Literally, this behind the scenes video shows the setup and production needed to capture skiers BASE jumping off of a huge cliff. How do Pirelli tires fit in? Check out the final cut of the completed video and you'll see how it all comes together. Spoiler Alert: They throw a car off of the cliff too!
Creating dynamic and interesting images in a time crunch situation sometimes means you’ll have to finish your images in post to develop the most iconic and exciting imagery for yourself or a client. This has usually meant a good amount of time spent in Photoshop to extract and then blend your foreground and subject with your sky. In this video you will get to see how Luminar 4 can save you time and help you create an epic back-lit environmental portrait.
Light is everything in photography. If it's good, shooting feels like you just won the lottery. If it's bad, it can be incredibly frustrating to work in. This great video talks about finding the right time of day for the light you're looking for.
If you’re a wedding or event photographer, it’s likely you’ve come across mixed lighting situations, and understanding how to work with or around it is crucial. If done right, mixed lighting can have a flattering effect and can add visual interest and depth to your photos.
Most people start out their photography journey learning how to light their photos using natural light, and many photographers continue to use it for work at home, both because of its look and because it saves on space that might be tight wherever you live. If you enjoy working with natural light in your home studio, be sure to check out this great video with lots of helpful tips and tricks.
Joerg Niggli created this timelapse video of Venice, which shows a day in this gorgeous Italian city, from sunrise to sunset. If you haven't yet traveled to Venice, this video is a cheaper alternative for you, so thank Joerg for saving you some cash! He used a Canon G10 to shoot the timelapses, and for editing he used After Effects and Final Cut Pro X. Enjoy!
Mary Ellen Mark, famed photographer, passed away very recently. It's only fitting that her final project center around rebirth, a term that is synonymous with city – my home – New Orleans. I found these images on CNN.com tailored beautifully with quotes that elegantly express the story that Mary Ellen Mark's images tell. Every image tells a story both literally and figuratively, there is a story included with many of the works that provides insight from those who are themselves players in the tales.
Photography is not only a creative outlet for the photographer, but it also can provide healing to your clients. Most boudoir sessions are sought after in order to gain confidence, many family sessions are there to capture generations for preservation, and even underwater sessions can provide a healing to clients who are in need of the surreal emotions that come with being submerged.
It takes a lot of patience to put together an extended time-lapse work; I have great admiration for anyone who actually finishes one. "Existence" is a time-lapse project which Michael Shainblum worked hard on for four months. The scenes he picks are meant to contrast the two sides of life, the busy metropolis that many of us live in and the beauty in nature that can be seen when we step outside our city boundaries.
So many behind the scenes videos we come across are nothing more than boring, overly glamorized music videos. Skateboard photographer Michael Burnett's latest video is anything but boring. Anyone who has photographed extreme or counter culture sports know that there are certain rules to be broken...and certain rules that must be followed. Michael goes through a ton of great skateboard photographs and explains what makes some stand out while others get lost in the mix. So grab your fisheye lens, a few speedlights on stands, and put yourself in harm's way!
If you’ve been following along, you may remember that back in July, I packed up my apartment, loaded up my car, and set off on a month-long cross country tour of the southern United States with my girlfriend Holly and my dog, Olive. Along the way we met and hung out with some incredible people, had the opportunity to take great photos, ate at some great local places and most importantly, got to experience first hand the freedom of the open road.
I begin with a story about a location nestled in the picturesque landscapes of Cork, Ireland, where there lies the ancient friary ruin of a monastic settlement—a scene that, despite its historical roots, breathes life through the ever-changing interplay of light, atmosphere, and clouds. In the pursuit of capturing the feeling of this timeless location, I embarked on a photographic challenge that spanned two hours leading up to sunset. The unique challenge? To take 10 shots from the exact same composition, without altering my camera position or perspective.
The animal kingdom does most of its activities at dawn or at dusk, and many only hunt when they can hide in the darkness that the nighttime brings. This video showcases how BBC went about capturing the animals using artificial light at first, and how they do it now using infra-red and thermal cameras.
“A picture is worth a thousand words”, so goes the idiom.They can recall memories so profound; the song on the radio, the light in the room, or the laughter that surrounded you.They can make you feel the joy that was in your heart all over again in an instant. If I close my eyes, I can transport to the very spot where I felt truly alive. I can recall the smile spread across my face when I took a moment to look at the image I had just captured. I’m enthralled with my memories and photos as much as I was the day I was there. As I gazed down Tunnel View at Yosemite National Park, I truly found my paradise.
Most of us have seen some masterful camerawork when it comes to breathtaking time-lapses. Sean White sets a new precedent with this creation by gathering images from a total of 24 countries on all seven continents over the course of six years. The project was funded by Art Wolfe.
Anna Mia Davidson has been shooting and documenting sustainable farmers in the Pacific Northwest for the past seven years. The USA Television Network and Aperture collaborated for a campaign called, “The Character of America,” which commissioned nine photographers to document the positive aspects of America. Anna was one of those commissioned to further her personal project under that campaign. She also gained further funding from Fotodocument to be able to complete the project.
A few words of wisdom from one the best cinematographers working in Hollywood today.
With the advancement and affordability of video technology available to consumers now, the number of budding and aspiring film and video makers has seemingly raised exponentially. One of those advancements has most definitely been in regards to how the color correction process is handled. There's certainly no one path to success sort of idea with this either, but there are some things that you can do to help simplify and organize your process in order to work quicker and more efficiently.
We've been partnering with our pals at Viewbug to offer you guys great contests weekly, and one of those contests we run on a monthly basis gives you the chance to be featured here! The first winner of such a contest is Jeremy Vesely with his image "Three Brothers at Sunrise" which was also our photo of the day earlier this week.