Menu

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

mpkelley.com
Popular Articles from Mike Kelley
[BTS] The Anatomy of a Luxury Interior Shot
64
by

When it comes to interior and architectural photography, there is often much more involved than what meets the eye at first glance. In order to create a photograph that is realistic and enticing, careful planning, staging, lighting and a healthy dose of patience is imperative. In this Fstoppers Original, we dive into a luxury interior shot and see what it takes to construct a mouth-watering interior photo from the ground up.

[Video] The Fascinating End Of Kodachrome's 75 Year Legacy
2
by

When Dwayne's Photo, based in Parsons, Kansas, ceased processing Kodachrome film, it was the end of an era spanning 75 years. This ten minute mini-documentary by Xander Robin affords us a view into the history of Kodachrome, the process used to develop it, and insight from the employees of Dwayne's who worked with the film regularly. Check out the full post for the video.
How to Photograph and Retouch a Hotel Room in 15 Minutes
34
by

Last year at my workshop in the Bahamas, my students challenged me to photograph a hotel room in under five minutes. They then wanted to see how fast I could retouch it, and I've decided to do it again, this time capturing it on camera, to show everyone what is possible with only a few minutes on location, a bit of Photoshop knowledge, and of course a lot of practice in the art of previsualization!

Flash Vs. HDR For Interiors And Real Estate Photography, Part II: Mood And Color Case Study
57
by

About six months ago, I wrote a piece comparing flash techniques to HDR and ambient-only techniques when shooting for architecture and interiors clients. There was some great discussion involved and many valid points raised, and I'd like to take a few minutes to bring up another scenario that really shows the benefits of using flash whenever possible when dealing with interior or architectural situations.

Fstoppers Reviews The Singh-Ray Variable Neutral Density Filter: A Must For Any Landscape Photographer
28
by

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.

HDR Vs. Flash For Interiors And Real Estate Photography
93
by

I know that many of our readers are real estate photographers or have at least tried their hand at real estate photography. The most common method used to create 'good enough' real estate photos is HDR: whether it is tonemapping or exposure fusion, HDR is definitely the most-used method for real estate and beginner interior photographers. In this post, I'll do a comparison between tonemapping, exposure fusion, single on-camera flash, and multiple off-camera flash, and show you the benefits (or disadvantages, rather) of each.

BTS: Building An Architectural Interior Photograph From The Ground Up
20
by

In today's post, I'm going to walk you through how I build an architectural photograph from square one. We'll discuss composition, lighting, staging, styling, and posing models in an architectural interior in order to create the image that the client has in mind. Despite appearing as a rather simple image, this shot took over an hour to finish on location with multiple steps and a lot of pre-visualization.

[BTS] Behind The Scenes Photos of Iconic 'Star Wars' Scenes
0
by

We recently came across this collection of behind-the-scenes photographs from the filming of the original Star Wars trilogy (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi). To see Sir Alec Guinness working on his tan in a pair of oversize sunglasses, Chewbacca unmasked, and Carrie Fischer about to get intimate with C-3PO, check this out!

Announcing The Winner And Runners-Up To The Fstoppers Portrait POTD Contest!
23
by

After looking at all of the great submissions for our April POTD contest, it took a few weeks to narrow them all down and come up with commentary for what were some outstanding photos. Like I said in the original post, it was truly humbling to have people from all over the world send us their images to view and judge against others. It was great to see images from all over the world of various cultures and places, and I'm happy to announce that we've finally settled on our top portraits and the winner of the $100.

The Thought-Provoking Fine Art iPhoneography Paintings of Brett Amory
10
by

How's that for a tongue-twisting title? We have all seen plenty of so-called iPhone shooters, some more impressive than others, come and go over the last couple of years. But Brett Amory has taken it a step further, and creates tangible pieces of fine art from his iPhone images, and that extra attention and care transforms his iPhone snaps into fully-fledged artworks with mood, rhythm, and style.

Disney Acquires Lucasfilm, Star Wars Franchise: More Star Wars Films Coming
24
by

In the most unexpected yet earth-shattering news in recent film and video memory, Disney has agreed to purchase Lucasfilm for a reported $4.05 billion. Along with that purchase, Disney has stated that it will continue to produce original Star Wars films and related material. Since I know that most all of our readers grew up watching Star Wars and at some point in their life have pretended to wield a lightsaber, this has got to be the greatest Star Wars news in some time.