Recent Natural Light Articles

[Video] Shutter Island Proves DSLRs Can Make Beautiful Films

Team Nine brings the greens, greys and sometimes blues of Iceland to you in the beautifully composed Shutter Ísland. Filmed with a Canon 7D, using a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens, the film short shows both the capabilities of DSLR HD video and the team’s eye for composition — proving one lens is all you need. For a photo-based tour, consider viewing Iwan Bigler’s Flickr set of photo stills here. I am already looking forward to their next trip. Great job Team Nine!

Los Angeles Street Photographer Hunts for Light to Create Dramatic Imagery

What makes one street photographer any greater than the other? Is it the streets which they frequent? Is it a matter of being in the right place at the right time? Or is the answer more about perspective and the people who fill the streets? Remarkable Street Photographer Rinzi Ruiz opens up about the inspiration behind his stunning street photography.

Fstoppers Reviews: SLR Lounge's 'Mastering HDR Photography' Workshop Will Change Your Photography In Ways You Never Imagined

If you own a DSLR camera, the odds are that you've tried to create an HDR image using one of the many available HDR software programs available on the market, and you might have even created what people call 'disastrous' results. But fret not, because SLR Lounge recently released the end-all, be-all HDR tutorial to conquer all other HDR tutorials.

Robert Hernandez Shoots Fire Up Close

Robert Hernandez created this video just for all of you FS readers out there. Robert's shoot isn't really that complicated from a photography stand point but I sure wouldn't call it easy. Robert is shooting images inside rooms purposely caught on fire for fire department training. The room reaches over 200 degrees while Robert attempts to get the shot and protect his gear.

Fire Department Live Fire Photo Shoot Behind the scenes from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue on Vimeo.

Behind The Scenes of "Home," How Filmmakers Created A Story In A Foreign Country

What happens when two filmmakers get together, fill a suitcase with camera gear and hop on a plane? In the case of Preston Kanak and Brent Foster, a great work of digital cinema. With only a rough idea of what they wanted, much was left to chance as these two spent 8 days in Havana, Cuba. Read on for the final film and some insight from the creators.

Five Tips for Shooting Black and White Landscapes

The next six months is prime time for shooting black and white landscapes, especially on those gloomy days which can add drama and "wow factor" to your images. I have some compelling reasons why I think you should consider converting from color to black and white.

[BTS Video] Corey Rich Goes Behind The Scenes Of His Nikon D4 WHY Promo Video

Corey Rich was one of the first photographers to demo the new Nikon D4. His extreme athlete documentary "WHY" was one of the best product launch videos I've seen yet. Luckily for all of us, Nikon asked Corey to produce a behind the scenes video on how he and his crew filmed the various athletes for the short film. Watching this BTS video was one of the most inspiring videos I've seen in a good while. Not only am I pumped to have

Polaroid Mirrors: an Interview with Jeffrey Mckee

Jeffrey Mckee is a Lawrence, KS-based photographer and a graphic designer for the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas. His colorful portraits, created with Polaroid instant film, evoke a sense of dreamy playfulness.

Like so many 20th century processes, Polaroid photography is a format far less common than its digital counterparts. However, equipment and film for instant photography have been made more accessible in recent years.

Skateboarding as Art - An Interview With Fred Mortagne

Fred Mortagne, or French Fred, is a skateboarder, photographer, and filmmaker living in France. His images have taken skateboard photography to a place where the line between fine art, portraiture and action sports have beautifully dissolved into amazing works of art. As someone who shares a lot of the same passion for actions sports and black and white photography, I decided to get in touch with Fred to ask him a few questions about his work.

5 Tips for Creating Stronger Compositions Using Natural Light

Developing your eye for how natural light can shape your composition comes with time. Contemporary landscape photographer Kyle McDougall has put together five excellent nuggets of knowledge to take with you the next time you’re out shooting.

Thoughtful Documentary Follows Landscape Photographer To The Most Beautiful Places On Earth

In this trailer for the upcoming documentary "The Quest For Inspiration", there are a slew of amazing images from places filmmaker Mathieu Le Lay followed landscape Photographer Alexandre Deschaumes. The documentary shows Alexandre as he prepares for a new journey, this time into Patagonia, and we hear his words as thoughts through voiceover, speaking about the complexities and work he does to attain his inspiration.

[Wildlife] Amazing, Intimate Shots of Lions In Their Natural Habitat

Brothers Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas make quite the team. They're wildlife photographers based in Britain who have devised some clever means to get closer to some of the world's most dangerous animals. In 2009, they created a remote-controlled camera nicknamed BeetleCam and set out to photograph animals in their natural habitat. Armed with the knowledge they gained from the first trip, they went back a second time, and their results are nothing short of stunning.

[BTS Video] Tips On Using Natural Light And Strobes

In this behind the scenes video, Jay P Morgan shows us how he combined natural light and strobes to get that perfect shot while on location. First, he starts by determining where the sun is going to set on the horizon by using the very handy iPhone app, Sunseeker. For this project, he was shooting stills as well as video, which can get a bit tricky. Using a Kessler Crane he was able to get the video shots just before sunset. After the sun started setting he pulled out the strobe lighting; two Hensel Porty L 1200 kits. If you enjoy this video be sure to check out some of his other...

Mirrored - a Photographic Dialogue Between Sydney and Istanbul

Markus Andersen is back at it again on the streets of Sydney, Australia… but this time he has teamed up with fellow street photographer Elif Suyabatmaz of Istanbul, Turkey. The pair of photographers has just wrapped up a three year long project titled Mirrored where they responded to one another’s images by presenting a similar viewpoint from their respective nations. The final collection echoes the differences and similarities within the Australian and Turkish cultures through the mirrored interpretations each photographer presents.

Dr. Ockenfels: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Sun

We live in a world constantly fascinated by technology. We want the TV with the greatest definition. We want the tablet with the shiniest screen. And, as photographers, we always want the most expensive gear and the most elaborate new toys. But the more you grow as an artist, you'll quickly realize it's the man that makes the equipment, not the equipment that makes the man (or woman).

Photographer Captures a Rare Rainbow in Jersey

A rare sight was captured at the Jersey Shore this week. When photographer Jon Entwhistle saw a peculiar sight, he aimed his camera to the heavens and virality ensued.

Sergey Semenov Creates Stunning Interactive NYC Panorama

Sergey Semenov recently won the 2012 Major Amateur Award at the Pano Awards (for panoramic photography) for his interactive panorama of NYC, made up of thousands of aerial photographs stitched together from numerous helicopter tours up above the big apple...

Four Steps to Creating Better Natural Light Portrait Compositions

Natural light portraiture is a great way to stay versatile and able to move through a variety of locations and poses quickly without having to deal with the logistics and interruption to your creative workflow presented by lugging around a bunch of lights and modifiers. However, because you can’t control the light, you need to consider your compositions a bit differently. This excellent video tutorial will show you a four-step process for creating better natural light portrait compositions.

Three Options for Natural Light Boudoir Setups

Michael Sasser has shared what he calls his most valuable video on his channel to date. Working with 100 percent natural light, he decided to make this video to help other boudoir photographers understand the importance of lighting.

[BTS] Inspiration: Ian Ruhter Makes Massive Wet Plate Prints Out Of His Truck

Photographer turned wet-plate artist Ian Ruhter basically dropped everything and cashed in his life's savings to follow his passion, morphing his van into a massive camera and making enormous wet plate prints as he travels the country. From hand-making the silver emulsion to the financial risks of shooting at a whopping $500 a plate, this video "Silver & Light" gives an in-depth

How To Create An Easy Street Photo Session

Clay Enos is a laid back photographer who is probably most well known for his portraits from the movie The Watchmen. Today he is taking his portrait photography to the streets and doing something most of us would find pretty intimidating by asking random people to pose in front of his white backdrop. Making people feel comfortable with you in a short amount of time is a crucial skill to have as a photographer, and Clay does a great job explaining how you can do this on the street with a relatively short 50mm lens. Now some people might not consider this real street photography but it's definitely an easy way to capture spontaneous images with a studio look.
Mark Wallace Discusses Shooting Portraits in Natural Light

The word portrait often comes associated with studio and lights. But let us not forget the fun in shooting with natural light. This quick article is about the importance of understanding the light when you are making natural light portraits.

5 Portraits You Can Create With Window Light

The beauty of portraits is just how accessible they are to photographers. If you have a camera, you can create beautiful portraits. One of the cheapest and easiest ways is using window light.

Making the Most of Natural Light in Your Portrait Photography

Too often it's easy to overlook the beauty of natural light instead of controlling that most important photography variable. But in the words of YouTuber and photographer Tung Bui, "Natural light portraits shouldn't be a challenge ... they should be enjoyable."

Make Any Camera Shoot Ultra Slow Motion

We have posted about Twixtor before but today I was sent 2 great examples of it being put to use. Instead of simply slowing frames down, Twixtor actually can create as many frames as you like for super smooth ultra slo mo. Obviously nothing beats actually shooting at 1000fps but this program is quite good in most cases. We used it on every frame for the intro of The Wakeboard Studio Shoot. Check out the full post for a second video.