It seems that a lot of photographers tend to avoid direct sunlight and for a long time, I did too. Occasionally, I would backlight subjects, but I would never dare light them directly with the sun. I decided one day that it was time to embrace the sun. In this article, I break down my methods for achieving a good photograph in direct sunlight, discussing what has helped me and what you should avoid.
Dust spots are inevitable, and removing them can sometimes be a burden. While there are many ways to go about removing dust spots, retoucher Chris Lambeth shows us a really quick and easy way to get rid of them. This method for removing them is completely new to me, but I'll be sure to incorporate it into my workflow.
In the digital age you as a photographer are expected to be familiar and knowledgeable with Photoshop. It can be argued back and forth if this is right or wrong and whether Photoshop is ruining photography. But I see Photoshop as a tool, just as the darkroom was a tool to manipulate images. I have put together this list of 10 techniques that helps me get the most out of my images.
I, like many photographers out there, don't have a studio, or don't have the money to rent out studio space every time I want to do a shoot. While shooting inside my house or garage is always an option, I found myself wanting to experiment more with ambient and natural light. Although I love shooting in a studio, a completely controlled environment, I learned shooting outside with backdrops was a great experience and taught me a lot about light.
There's no better way to start the week off than to watch a beautifully shot and composed time-lapse. Shane Black spent several months traveling through the U.S. and Canada teaching workshops and shooting this time-lapse. "Adventure is Calling" makes me want to get out of the house and explore how beautiful our planet is. Black spent about 4 months, traveled roughly 14,000 miles, and shot about 20,000 still for this inspiring 3 minute video.
Last week I traveled to Utah to shoot the athlete that landed the first ever double backflip on a downhill bike. Upon arriving at the Red Bull Rampage site, my mind was blown witnessing the extraordinary things these athletes are capable of. This trip has taught me more than any other sports photoshoot I have ever done.
If you ever thought having insurance for your camera gear wasn't worth investing into, you should take a minute to read this. It's like the old saying goes, "better safe than sorry." I learned that lesson first hand this weekend, and because of a faulty camera strap, I am now wishing I had insurance.
The fashion industry often can carry a negative connotation with people and this story certainly won't help that. Appearently model scouts have been lurking outside Stockholm's largest eating disorder clinic in search of fresh talent to bring back to their agencies.
Seeing that a lot of us have replaced "point'n'shoots" with smartphones, we might find ourselves missing on having an optical zoom option. It was through this need that Snapzoom was created. It's a universal binocular mount for smartphones, meaning it fits a wide variety of both phones and binoculars. The project got started when co-founders Daniel Fujikake and Mac Nguyen started using their own smartphones to document their surf adventures from the, at the time, completely DIY, garage-made mounting device.
Maybe it is because I live in the dust bowl of Phoenix AZ, but seeing the ever-growing empire of buildings in Hong Kong strikes me as quite a remarkable sight. Photographer Romain Jacquet-Lagreze visited Hong Kong in 2009 and became obsessed with its marvel. As he began to explore the unique city, he realized each part he visited had an atmosphere individually unique. Wanting to show what it's like to be on the ground in each special place, Romain pointed his camera upward to share the awe one feels when gazing up at the sky between the huge buildings.
Shots taken from Google's Glass were released a few days ago. It is no surprise that the first pictures taken with the Google glasses are sort of, well lame. We do have to remember these are meant to simply document your on the move lifestyle and not be compared to a professional camera. I'm sure once they are released to the public we will begin to see some better quality shots. The glasses definitely have some potential to be great.
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.
Want to improve, or just possibly brush up on your photoshops skills? Lynda.com is offering a free 1 hour and 37 minutes video to help you enhance your photos. In this course, the Photoshop senior product manager takes you on an insider's tour of the key photo-enhancement features in Adobe Photoshop CS6. Even if you consider yourself a master I'm sure they have some tricks for you. This course is only available through May 10 so act fast.
All of us have that favorite food that no matter what time of the day it is, we crave it. Well being a celebrity means you can have access to these foods at any time. Henry Hargreave thought is would make for a fascinating series to photograph these riders. I enjoy the fact that he decided to keep the backgrounds black and very minimal, which helps you connect with the person's interest and draws you in the most simplistic yet captivating way.
I'm sure most of us have had an awkward photobomb and were not to happy about it, but how would you react if the hilarious Ken Jeong decided to ambush your set with the lovely Kate Upton? Well during GQ's slim corduroy pants fashion shoot he did just that.
If you have you ever uploaded a photo to Facebook, Instagram or Flickr (that means pretty much all of you) you might want to read this. In the UK, the rights around who can use your images has drastically changed. A new reform act shifts the power away from citizens. It's something none of us ever wanted to see happen, and it's being called the "Instagram Act," named after the widely publicized attempt by Instagram to do something similar thing last year.
It's here, Firmware Version 1.2.1 is now available to download for your Canon 5D MKIII, which among many updates, enables the center AF point to autofocus when the camera is used with Canon EF lens/extender combinations whose combined maximum aperture is f/8, enables uncompressed HDMI output, and improves the speed of the camera's focus when using a Canon Speedlite AF-assit beam.
"Eastman Kodak Company today announced a comprehensive settlement agreement with the U.K. Kodak Pension Plan (KPP), its largest creditor, with respect to its Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization. Under the agreement, which will be filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Kodak’s Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses will be spun off under new ownership to KPP. The settlement agreement provides, among other things, for the spin-off of Kodak’s Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging businesses to KPP for cash and non-cash consideration of $650 million.
"Hasselblad is to cease production of its 503CW model - the last V System camera in the company's portfolio. The decision, which comes into immediate effect, brings to an end over a half century of evolution of the company's original camera line. Dr. Larry Hansen, Hasselblad Chairman and CEO said: "Everything has its place in time. The veteran 503CW combined with an extensive V System range of interchangeable lenses and accessories, was for seventeen years the camera of choice for discerning professionals and aspirational amateur photographers.
If you have ever opened up a motocross magazine or have seen pictures of the best motocross athletes you were probably looking at one of Garth Milans pictures. He has definitely made a name for himself in the action sports world. He also shoots all the red bull events. To say the least he is a photographer that deserves much respect. I was privileged enough to break him away from his busy schedule for a interview.
Lisa Kristine is an extraordinary activist who has documented the world of slavery in which we are currently blind to. Her story is very captivating and her images say so much. I highly recommend viewing the whole video and take in the stories behind each photograph. I believe we sometimes take our freedoms for granted without realizing that what maybe a privilege to us is a dream to others. Keep reading to watch the video.
Ole C. Salomonsen shot this beautiful edit of the northern lights. "The video is shot using stills and assembled together for best possible resolution and dynamic range. In this video however, for the first time, I have also chosen to include some real-time video footage. This is to better show how furiously fast and beautiful the polar spirits can dance! The two sequences which are shot in real-time (in the middle of the video) could never have been recreated using still photos, regardless what camera you are using."
I'm sure most of us would love the opportunity to view the northern lights. Well some of you might be in luck. Due to a solar flare this morning some parts of the world might have the chance to see this phenomenon. The lights are estimated to be seen around 8pm but can differ up to several hours. Read on for more details.
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."
It is always inspiring when when we are able to view things unseen by the human eye. Thanks to Jean-Pierre Aube, we are able to see the radiofrequency spectrum. The radiofrequency spectrum is at the heart of telecommunications, used by police, emergency personnel and public transport services, as well as the armed forces.
Man (or woman) can only dream what it looks like hovering above earth watching the beauty of science orbit beneath them. Thanks to the ISS (International Space Station) we have the next best thing, a timelapse. "Some interesting tidbits about the ISS. It orbits the planet about once every 90 mins and is about 350 Km/217 miles. The yellow/greenish line that you see over the earth is Airgolw. All footage has been color graded, denoised, deflickered, slowed down and stabilized by Bruce W. Berry. Clips were then complied and converted to 1080 HD at 24 frames/sec. Read on to learn what cameras they use and more info about the ISS"
National Geographic has been the pinnacle of photography for 125 years now. They have continued to set the standard for inspiring the world with their photographs. For the longest time Nat Geo was one of the only ways the world was able to visually share each others cultures. Its fascinating to see how society has changed over the century. Here we look back these beautiful shots from the past 125 years. Thank you Nat Geo for revolutionizing photography.
An interesting documentary that Emiland Guillerme filmed about collecting photographs from all over china and putting them together which you can see at 9:45 in the film. "Beijing Silvermine is a unique photographic portrait of the capital and the life of its inhabitants following the Cultural Revolution. It covers a period of 20 years, from 1985, namely when silver film started being used massively in China, to 2005, when digital photography started taking over. These 20 years are those of China's economic opening, when people started prospering, travelling, consuming, having fun."
What do you do when building the worlds largest ship, you hire Discovery channel to make a timelapse of course. "A timelapse of the construction of Maersk Line's very first Triple-E vessel at the DSME shipyard in Okpo, Korea.The timelapse was produced by Discovery Channel and Maersk, and it consists of 50,000 photos taken over 3 months.
It is quite fascinating to think just over 20 years ago we were introduced to the digital camera. What is in store for us 20 years from now? In this article Wired.com talks about how CGI may be our future. I'm sure this is a thought that may concern a lot of us since we may be still trying to run a photography business, and who has time to master CGI? Half of the image above is a photo and the other half is CGI, can you tell which is which?
Continuous lights are making a comeback and many photographers are giving them a second chance. In this lighting tutorial Jay P Morgan breaks down how he uses two continuous lights in his photo shoot. With the old technology of continuous lights most photographers avoided them, due to the heat the lights produced and the uncontrollable power and temperature of light. Now companies offer continuous light where you are able to fine tune the power/temperature of the light. The benefit from using continuous lights is you are able to see exactly where your light falls.
This short documentary talks about how much has changed in the past 20 years in the fashion industry. With the integration of bloggers and the boom of photographers fashion has morphed into this ever growing industry. It is pretty fascinating how these photographers take their photos and basically stalk these models.
The group iVideoMaking realsed their latest timelapse TimeLAX 01. Take a couple minutes to enjoy the moving and restless beauty of Los Angeles . "TimeLAX is a time-lapse photography project that shows the Greater Los Angeles area from many angles.The project includes different types of photography such as panoramic, architectural and artistic. We have scouted, tested and selected more than 200 locations that will be presented in a series of videos.
Redbull's newest short film truly is a masterpiece. Even if you are not a skateboarding enthusiast you should watch just to appreciate the cinematography. With Marc Ritzema as the cinematographer and Ryan Sheckler, Torey Pudwill, Ryan Decenzo, and Zered Bassett skating, the film is a visually stunning and rather remarkable. The slow-mo shots are beautiful and ramped so well. Marc is such a creative film maker and the personal touch he leaves on his films are very admirable. His story lines flow very well and never leave the viewer bored. Marc filmed this with a Phantom flex & epic.
I'm sure most of you have taken one look at the lens flare filter in Photoshop and decided to quickly over look it. Well I am here to say that you might want to reconsider and give it a chance. With the right steps and processing one can actually make it look decent. Now I'm sure there will be a few people that will still think adding flare is asinine, and to that I say to each their own.
