Motley Crue bassist, Nikki Sixx is a recovering addict. But cameras, he says, are his new drug. He has been a musician, a writer and a radio host. His new passion is photography. To be honest, I was pretty surprised by his images. They are empathetic, penetrative and incredibly personal. He has teamed up with Leica to photograph a two-part interview series.
Wyn has been featured on Fstoppers quite a few times. Why? His work is outstanding. He comes up with some really cool concepts for shots. From using LED's on a basketball shoot to powder with Gymnasts. He does it all perfectly.
The film industry has the Oscars. The music industry has the Grammys. Broadway has the Tony Awards. The annual awards that celebrate the best and brightest of the culinary world are the James Beard Foundation Awards. NYC based photographer Landon Nordeman set up backstage at the 2013 awards with just an iPhone for a camera. The results are a captivating black and white series of shots that each capture the range of emotions of the night.
Sometimes you want a portrait that just screams drama and emotion. Sometimes that emotion might be joy, other times you may want to portray a sort of dark, brooding atmosphere. In this tutorial by PHLEARN, Aaron Nace walks you through a method he chose to turn a daytime portrait into something much darker.
When I imagine the president of the United States, what comes to mind first is the campaign trail and all the national decisions he's involved with. It's hard to picture what the day to day of the presidential life brings. This collection of pictures of former president George W. Bush does a fantastic job of capturing the in between moments that show how normal presidents are.
You submit your assignment images each year as a staff photojournalist at a major newspaper and never place in the prestigious Picture of the Year International competition. Then, years later as a freelance photographer, you win first place for a body of work that was undertaken solely as a personal venture. This is the story of Bob Croslin's self-assigned "Grounded," a portrait project of injured birds undergoing rehabilitation at a sanctuary in western Florida.
It seems as a people, we have a fascination with photographing our food. From Henry's series of riders, to looking on instagram we cant help but document what we consume. Photographer Peter Menzel started this intriguing series of one weeks of groceries from around the world, taking traditional food photography to a much larger scale.
If the guy wasn't already talented enough, now Brad Pitt is showing off his ability to shoot photos of his gorgeous "wife" and family using black and white film. The photos are quite spectacular and give us all an interesting insight into his life behind closed doors. You will want to see these.
We received over 1000 submissions from our readers to our new POTD contest, and yes, we looked at every single one of them. There were some brilliant entries and it was incredibly tough to select the top 30 for the month of April, but they've all been chosen, and you can check out the gallery here
Beauty retouching can be an arduous task in any photographer's workflow. The amount of detail that can go into retouching a glamor portrait can easily run into several hours. Learning the secrets of the pros can be even more difficult. Julia Kuzmenko McKim has made learning easy with her new book entitled 'Digital Photo Retouching: Beauty, Fashion and Portrait Photography'
A photographer and digital artist by the name of Terrence Blanton has released a new website and photo series called "Eagle Faction" that is explosive and very influenced by Call of Duty and Battlefield. Terrence got ahold of a local Airsoft team to help create a fictional series about a team of former military and outdoorsmen that band together to help salvage their local territory of America after a collapse and invasion in the year 2023.
Several weeks ago I wrote an article about Profoto's new-ish pack, the Pro-B4, which has a flash duration of 1/25,000th of a second. Well, last week I was finally able to take it for a test drive. And what better way to test an insane flash duration than with water?
Aaron Nace from PHLEARN wanted to make an image that was based on the idea of a future where the sun had become so bright that humans would be forced to see the world through technologically-advanced glasses. Watch how they went from concept drawing to finished photo in their most recent tutorial.
Since last November I have been shooting a photo series titled 'Comedic Value' which consists of NYC comedians shot in NYC locations for NYC charity, Art-Start. Of the 25 comics featured in the project, 1 of my favorite shoots was with Jim Gaffigan and his fantastic family. When discussing concepts with Jim, he mentioned that he needed a shot of him and his kids for his new book, 'Dad Is Fat' which will be out next month.
Earlier today Zach Sutton posted a creative way to use baby powder as a smoke replacement for your photoshoots. Now we're taking that to a different level. Have you ever tried to shoot powder as just, you know, plain powder? By throwing powder (flour, baby powder or color pigments) on your models, you can get some very creative results. Check out these great examples found on Flickr and get inspired.
People create photo series for a number of different reasons. Sometimes you come up with an idea and pursue it while others just fall into your lap unexpectedly. For portrait photographer Willis Bretz the Washington D.C. metrorail system is where his series was brought to life or rather awakened from other commuters' slumber. We sit down and talk about his series entitled, 'Sleep in Transit'.
The Overseas Press Club of America is an organization who recognizes photojournalist and photographers for exceptional reporting in the photography medium. Since 1939 the OPC has seeked to maintaining an international association of journalist working abroad and here in the United States. Last night, they awarded 4 different photographers with awards of exceptionalism.
Pegboard is such a fun material to use when experimenting with lighting. You can change the shape of the light pattern by changing the distance of your light to the pegboard and the distance of the pegboard to your subject. We posted previously about how you can use pegboard to construct an entire backdrop. In this week's diagram I will show you how I used one speedlite and a small strip of pegboard to shape the light in my shoots.
This post contains nudity.
Phillip Toledano's series A New Kind of Beauty, is a harrowing look at individuals who go through an extreme amount of plastic surgery to modify their bodies.
"I’m interested in what we define as beauty, when we choose to create it ourselves. Beauty has always been a currency, and now that we finally have the technological means to mint our own, what choices do we make?"
Using just basic props and a lot of attention to detail, French photographer, Cerise Doucede has manage to create images that captivate, and inspire. In the series entitled “Egarements” (French for distraction), Cerise has spent approximately 3 days of prep time for each photo, creating images of levitation that boggle the mind.
As someone who spends a lot of time looking at photos online - if it's on Flickr, Facebook or Tumblr - I come across hundreds of photos of couples every month. The problem is: the photos are almost always kitschy, boring and make you feel sick inside. You know what i'm talking about. This is why I chose to feature some great images of couples that will actually make you stop and think. Maybe even smile.
There is that popular phrase that goes "the best camera you have is the one on you." That phrase has never been more true in this day and age with considerably powered cell phone cameras living in the pockets of nearly every person you might come across. Even as professionals with thousands of dollars in gear, sometimes we will find ourselves in a situation we shoot on our mobile cameras, whether by choice or by circumstance. I spoke to the product manager of Lightroom to get his take on the best ways to bring the most out of your iPhone images.
Recently I have been wanting to do an avant-garde hair shoot. I just needed to find the right stylist to work with. A few weeks ago I met Devan Aledia Ford who is a fantastic hair stylist. When I told her about my desire to do a stylized hair shoot, she took the idea and ran with it. She conceptualized a spring-themed, fairytale-inspired shoot. She even styled the wardrobe and did the makeup (never underestimate the power of a great stylist).
A good photographer or videographer depends on good lighting to create a shot. Lighting creates the mood of any scene and sets the stage for the story you're trying to tell. In an unusual but entrancing method, Nacho Guzman creates a dramatic scene and shows how quickly light can change the mood and expression on a woman's face. Although the woman in the video only moves her face subtly over time, the rotating light around her causes striking mood shifts in the image.
Denver photographer Michael Sasser got some attention when this behind the scenes video showed how a simple setup could produce some great portraits. He dropped a new video, so I reconnected with him to see what he has been working on. Turns out he has a new slow-motion video camera, and is now offering video production to clients. This video will give you a taste of one of his shoots, and in the interview Michael shares some insight on his methods, gear, and experiences.
Who doesn't like a little artsy nudity now and again? The guys at PHLEARN certainly aren't against it in their latest tutorial that teaches one of the many methods for this type of photography.
I know you all have seen tons of life style photographers, all the happy, smiley shots of girls wearing weird, fashionable clothing. However, I think each photographer who shoots these is able to tell a different story with them. Joseph Tyler is one of these photographer who is able to tell a different story then the others. These shots are not all happy, smiley, and fun looking. They are more on the serious side of things which is a nice little change from the ordinary life style shots.
Richard Tuschman is a fine art photographer, whose works has appeared on a number of book covers. His latest project, Hopper Meditations, has him recreating famous Edward Hopper paintings in an unconventional way.
When I first saw his images, I was struck by the quality in them. They appear to be a composites, but it also looks like he may have been using a tilt-shift lens. Even if they were composites, I was fascinated by how he found locations that perfectly mirrored the original paintings. Tushcman's secret? Dioramas.
Kevin Jairaj, wedding and sports photographer based in Dallas, is usually shooting for USA Today Sports Images or for different unknown couples. Recently Kevin was hired by one of the most famous girls in the world to shoot her new set of images, for her own portfolio. Her name is McKayla Maroney, and she has more Olympic Gold medals than you. Check out the BTS video, and the final results.
Photographer Kenneth Cappello is known for his celebrity portraiture, his advertising work for Nike and Puma as well as his flashy editorial work for Nylon, GQ, Fader and Vibe. Cappello shot musician/DJ DeadMau5 this past month for Vibe Magazine, and, lucky for us, also shot a little BTSV to give us a peek at his process.
It's always fun to see photo never released during the time they were taken. Norman Seeff talks about these shots of the blues brothers he took in 1978.
“In 1978 I got a call to shoot the Blues Brothers. They were new on the scene for me and I wasn’t yet familiar with their work. But the guys in my crew were completely thrilled with the idea of filming this duo and convinced me that we should definitely film the session."
To say that I have been absent from writing lately is a slight understatement. In all reality I have been absent from life in general. I have been sitting on planes listening to podcasts more than I have been sitting at bars listening to friends. All for one giant campaign: "Give Me Strength" by Muscle Milk.
Photojournalist David Eulitt recently completed Punching Back Time, a series of photographs that features senior athletes who at seasoned ages, strap on gloves and spar in the ring.
The boxers were participants in the 2nd Annual Ringside Masters Championship boxing tournament, a competition for amateur boxers ranging in ages from 35 to 75.
Multiple exposures is not a new technique in photography. Though uncommon now in the digital era, multiple exposure is the art of double exposing film in order to create interesting and unique results. With the latest DSLRs, this tool is now found tucked away in your camera settings, and is perhaps your camera’s best kept secret.
Shooting underwater is not a simple task, and usually not very affordable. To shoot underwater you need not only the knowledge, but also expensive DSLR housing (or point and shoot cameras designed to shoot underwater) and also underwater lighting system if you want to fully control the lighting. Once you get underwater with your subject, the water lets you create striking and beautiful images, that you can never create out in the fresh air. Check out these great examples of underwater photography.
Photoshelter is hosting a webinar featuring retoucher Kristina Sherk this week, and to advertise the webinar they posted an animated gif showing before and after Sherk got her hands on the image. I was shocked, as Sherk not only easily erased 10 years off the model, but even more amazingly did it without making it look fake.
Sight. It is everything for a photographer. We nitpick over which camera body or lens is the best tool for the job, but no lens or camera sensor has yet to come close to what the human eye is capable of.
What so many of us take for granted, fine art photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten has chosen to focus on in her new project, "Blind". Her subjects ranged from those who were born blind to those who went blind later in life.
After Bar Refaeli took over the Superbowl with her controversial commercial, Bar found time to do something she never did before: pose nude for a magazine shoot. The magazine that paid her to do that is currently unknown, but somehow the photos leaked earlier today. Check out the BTS and the final results in the post.
Double Exposure is something most of us who ever had a film camera experienced at least once. By accident. It happened when the film got stuck, or when we used a used film again by mistake. With the digital age coming in and replacing film, in-camera double exposures became a very rare kind of photography, but in recent years, many DSLRs added the option to create a double exposure in camera, and this old style came back to life. Check out these great examples of Double Exposure found on Flickr.
Most people think lifestyle photography is over rated. Just pictures of people hanging out having a good time and thats about it. Technically, yes that is it. However, it's more than just that. It's not that easy to just have the shots look like people hanging out. They have to work well with each other, you have to be able to tell a story with the images, show emotions, ect. Basil Vargas is one of the many Life-style photographers I really enjoy looking at.
Over the last 48 hours I have looked at these photos time and time again. I have shared them with my wife and daughter. I have been touched tremendously and my water-filled eyes have been opened to the daily struggles and emotions those face who are fighting cancer. I have been incredibly grateful to the photographer Angelo Merendino, who took the time to document his wife's journey through photos and share them with all of us to help "humanize the face of cancer." In Merendino's words, "these photographs do not define us, but they are us."
You have likely seen Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti's photos floating around the internet lately. His latest series, "Toy Stories" is the result of an 18-month project documenting children from around the world with their favorite toys. Many of the portraits were taken in the kids' rooms. We see a range of living conditions from sparse to affluent. The concept is so simple yet so brilliant. It doesn't hurt that the photographs were also expertly executed.
Mirrors. Something each one of us owns. Most people use it to make sure they look OK, but some people use it to create awesome portraits. Using a mirror can give depth to your image, give you more detail you'll never get without it. It shows you things that are usually hidden from the camera. Portraits using a mirror as a prop also tell a stories - they make you think about the situation and the story behind it. Using mirrors is also a great way to show the surroundings - it gives you a way to see whats behind the camera as well as whats in front of it.
I have been absolutely fascinated by wetplate processes for a while now: I find the medium absolutely unlike anything else in the world of art and photography, and the one-of-a-kind results from this hand-crafted process are simply beautiful. When I learned that there was a studio in San Francisco that specialized in taking collodion (tintypes, specifically) portraits of clients, I absolutely had to have one done.
Joe McNally takes us through his lighting setup for a recent Cowboy portrait he shot. Joe's vision was to have the photo look like it was being lit by daylight coming through a window. He accomplishes this with a set of speed-lights and a 6x6 diffuser. He also adds additional lights to add fill for the shadows that the cowboy hat creates. Joe breaks down the gear...
I've been to a fair amount of conferences and seminars throughout my life. It seems as I was growing up, most offered an amazing getaway that pumped me up for whatever the topic of the weekend focused on. The more conferences I've gone to, though, the more I've felt jaded and unappreciative of the hype they create. That said, I wasn't sure what to expect at this year's annual wedding photography conference in Vegas, WPPI.
There is no specific way to define what 'moody' portraits are, but when you see one you know it's under that category. It could be the lighting, it could be the tone (usually blue and green), or just the body form and expression. Whatever it is, it makes you stop and think. Makes you feel something. Makes you wonder what the subjects are thinking about, what happened to them leading them to this moment. Check out this set of great moody portraits found on Flickr.
A couple weeks ago I posted a lighting diagram showing how you can emulate Martin Schoeller's lighting by using gaffers tape and foam core. One reader commented that the catch-light makes the subject's eyes look like a cat. This got me thinking about what would happen if I were to change the pattern of the tape into various shapes. Here's what I discovered.
Personal feeling: we don’t give our websites enough attention. It’s usually a “good enough” situation. It shows our photos, gets our name on Google and it serves as a place for us to send clients and prospects. That attitude tends to result in an attitude of “settling.” We settle for what we find and it is, again, good enough. Or is it? I wasn't ready to just be happy with "good enough" on my website.
An assignment to capture images of trophy canines at the Westminster Dog Show yielded a striking New Yorker magazine portfolio by photographer Landon Nordeman. An award-winning imagemaker who frequently shoots for Saveur, ESPN The Magazine, and The New Yorker, Nordeman is no stranger to visual storytelling at the greatest dog show on earth.
