Articles from Noam Galai

A Polish man proposed to his girlfriend by creating a fake horror movie trailer. Not just fake, but actually pretty good. The video was made by combining snippets of scenes from "The Grey," "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "Essential Killing" and dramatic music to give that finish touch. His unsuspecting girlfriend went to the movie theatre with 2 of her friends, not knowing that night will change her life. Seeing her face when she realizes what's going on is priceless.

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.

As photographers, we usually focus on matching photography parameters with other photography parameters: matching ISO to F-stop, matching exposure to ISO and so on. But have you ever tried matching a photography parameter with sound parameters? By matching the frame-rate (fps) on the camera to the Hz units coming out of the speaker you can create magic in video, without any editing. Create something your naked eye will never see.

Creating panoramas with your DSLR is not too hard to do, but it takes time and effort, and it's something you dont always want to spend time on. Also, we photographers don't always take our equipment with us everywhere we go. With the (kind of) new iOS its now easier than ever to create on-the-fly panoramas on your phone. Easy as snapping a picture. And surprisingly - the results can look pretty awesome. The iPhone is capable of capturing images up to 28 megapixels in size, which is pretty big and can be printed really nicely.

Car photography can be done in many different ways using different techniques. Some people like shooting it with gelled strobes, some like to lightpaint it or just shoot with available light. There is no one right way to do it. Shooting cars is something most photographers can try: just take your (or your friends) car and start shooting it - but as easy as it is to try - its not easy to produce breathtaking results. Check out this collection of amazing car photos found on Flickr.

Sometimes being in the photography community is more than just talking to each other about new techniques or sharing new photos. Sometimes it could be something much bigger and much more meaningful. 30 year old New York based photographer Michael Popp is fighting Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, and needs your help to fight it. Michael needs over $100,000 for treatments and drugs, and is nowhere close to this amount right now. Lets all help him and prove this is more than a community - it's a family.

The Aurora Borealis (Also known as "The Northern Lights") is a light glow of the upper atmosphere caused by energetic particles that enter the atmosphere. There are 2 main colors associated with the glow: Green and Red, but because of limits of the human eye, we cant always see the red aurora. In order to see the aurora, the sky must be clear and dark, and to get it on film (or sensor) you need to shoot long exposure (between 10-30 seconds, depends how bright the Aurora is). Check out this collection of great images showing this phenomenon.

"What If My Red Is Your Green?" is a question I ask myself for many years now. As a photographer this question/issue was always on my mind: I work so hard to get (what I see as) the perfect colors, and what I see as beautiful, but I have no way to know if the colors I see are the same colors you see. We all agree that red is red, and green is green. We all know that a lemon is yellow and a strawberry is red. But is it possible that you see yellow the way I see blue? Michael from VSauce did his best to answer the question.

Architectural (and real-estate) photography is one of the most challenging and technical types of photography. In most cases, the goal is to get a clean shot with perfect lighting showing the place at its best and "sell" it to the viewer. It usually means the photo will show the location in a wide-'normal' angle and without distortion. But there is a different kind of Architectural photography that shows buildings and rooms in a unique angle, creative lighting, and usually shows only small part of it. It's about making art out of architecture.

Israeli based photographer Dima Vazinovich is specializing in news, documentary and wedding photography. One thing that separates him from other photographers in the industry is the unique and creative look his photography has. Recently Dima decided to try adding a new kind of look to his portfolio, and the results are truly amazing. The idea: “Freelensing” / tilt shifting with a cheap broken 50mm 1.8 lens to create magical images.

As photographers we always look for that different angle, something that will make our images unique and special. Sometimes it means laying down on the floor, and sometimes it means renting a helicopter or a drone. Shooting from high-up is not only different and interesting, its also unique and pretty rare. Check out this great collection of Bird-Eye view images found on Flickr.

It's been 3 days since the Super Bowl ended. 110 Million people (in the US only) watched the game, the commercials, and of course Beyoncé taking over the world. Her performance was truly amazing, and she proved to all those who doubted - she can sing live, and do it like a champion. But apparently, her Super Bowl gig is now causing some people in the photo industry to raise some eyebrows.

Man-made air pollution is everywhere and it's woeful. There is no one we can blame for it. we all contribute to the destruction of our world - if its by using cars, smoking or using different kinds of sprays. But as any bad thing, man-made air pollution can help creating striking images that are both beautiful and sad. Check out these great images of air pollution found on Flickr and think of what Michael Jackson once sang: "What have we done to the world"?

Shooting a star trail is something that is easy on paper: using just the equipment you already own, aiming to the sky and shooting long exposure. But in reality it takes months and years to really perfect your craft and create amazing star trail images. In the past we featured a tutorial on sky photography, and also this amazing star trail image NASA photographer shot from space - now it's time to show you some amazing results of different photographers around the world. Check them out and let us know which ones are your favorites.

As photographers/retouchers, we sometimes tend to remove any wrinkle, spots, or stray hair we can see on the subject we photographed. We consider it as a distraction, as something that make our images look less professional. But sometimes that's not the case. Check out this collection of great portraits of old people. In some cases, the wrinkles are even edited to look even bolder and stronger - and it works. Old people can be great models, and create very moody and interesting images.

The most common method of light painting is using a flashlight and moving it around while shooting long exposures. We all know that trick, and many times it looks a little gimmicky. This is why I really like when people think of other, more creative ways to do light painting. Using burning Steel Wool can create awesome looking photos. Its super cheap, creative and can give your photos the X-Factor.

As photographers, we sometimes tend to make tight compositions and make the main subject in the photo take over a large area of the frame. We feel that if its important, we need to focus on it, make it apparent and zoom on it. Sometimes, zooming out or stepping back and making your main subject take only a tiny area of the frame, can do magic to your images. Check out these great images of minimalism found on Flickr.

Dr. Amir Amedi, brain researcher and Neurobiology professor from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, developed a technology that lets blind people 'see' with their ears. In this TEDx talk (TEDxJerusalem) he shows how he managed to use a simple camera, and transform the video captured into sound waves that quickly become visual images in the brain. It's amazing to see how they can 'see' when someone smiles at them, just by listening to the video they capture with that small camera.

Winter is officially here and we're going to freeze for few more months. I don't know about you, but I cant wait for the summer - for the nice weather, for the long days and of course - being able to go out to the ocean/sea. Check out this collection of great images of rocky beaches that will make you wish it was summer already. Which are your favorites? Let us know in the comments below.

As you all know, today is the last day of earth as we know it. Its the end of the world. So there is no better time than now to feature some great apocalypse photos - just in case its still calm where you live and you want to see how it looks around the world. Any recommendations for a spot to shoot the end of the world from?

Earlier today we posted this video of an Eagle lifting a baby in the park, and it started a massive debate whether its real or not. Now we have the answer: its FAKE. Check out this BTS video showing how 4 animation students from Montreal created this viral video. Did you get it right?

As photographers, we spend hours on fixing colors on our images every month. Some people might even spend hours on just one image before they will be satisfied with how the colors look (me included). This is why seeing this video, of someone who NEVER saw colors, is so interesting. Tommy Edison is blind since birth, and have never seen any color in his life. Something I cant even process. Not knowing what color is. Its too crazy for me to even imagine.

Shooting live performances is not always easy. Sometimes the lighting is bad (sometimes its much worse than that), sometimes your angle is not too interesting, and sometimes people in the crowd can get in the frame and kill a good catch. But sometimes you're exactly in the right spot with the right lens; and with the right timing you can capture a perfect action shot of the performer, or of his fans. Check out these great live concert photos found on Flickr and let us know which are your favorites.

It could be the aftermath of a war, or the result of a strong Tsunami. It could be the destruction of a Hurricane, or the Devastation of a terror attack. The moment after something horrible happens, is also the moment people capture powerful images of (bad) historic events. We all remember few iconic shots of such events, photos we've seen for hundreds of times on TV, in newspapers or just online. This is why I chose to feature very powerful images you probably never saw before.

Take a 3-minute break from whatever you're doing right now, and listen to this short recorded lecture of British philosopher and writer Alan Watts (1915-1973). This is a very inspirational, thought-provoking and interesting to anyone who ever wanted to work in the industry - Doesn't matter if its as a photographer, film maker, sound-man or a retoucher. Listen, and decide: 'What do you desire?'.

There is something very special about taking a self portrait of yourself. Being both the model and the photographer makes you feel very comfortable, relaxed and open for trying unique ideas. You don't need to be afraid of the results because you have the control over what gets out, you dont need to feel shy trying cool ideas, because no one needs to be around when you shoot. No pressure, just you, your camera and all the time in the world. Check out these 20 great self portraits found on Flickr.

With a new CEO, Yahoo! hopes to bring Flickr back to life and make it the number one destination for photographers. With the renewed efforts, as MegaPixel revealed today, Flickr may have made one bad move, as they have erased Israel from their maps. The name of the country is still there, and also the names of 3 cities, but anything other than that has been removed: cities, villages, streets and roads. So far no comment from Flickr on this issue.

I'm sure most of you happened to see images created with the Slit Scan technique, but probably never got to see it being used in videos. Until now. Sit down and get ready to have your brain explode. This awesome video experiment was made by French filmmakers Adrien M / Claire B who filmed it with a Canon 7D at 60fps. Beautiful work.

Over a week and a half passed since Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast, and things are far from being back to normal. Many lost their homes and businesses, and many still have no electricity. In the past 11 days media outlets showed thousands of photos of the storm and the aftermath, and we also shared some of our own photos taken during that week. Now, its time to see the best Hurricane Sandy photos found on Flickr!