There’s something about the passion that exists between a mechanic and a motorcycle. Their hands and tools are their paintbrushes, and their grease-stained nails are their paint.
Since the early days of photography, photographers have framed photos after making a print for display. Frames help focus a viewer's attention on the subject of the photograph or on the entire picture in itself. [Read More]
Each print that I create is a composite of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of individual photos digitally stitched together. Using a method of macro photography called “photo stacking” it’s possible to create images with an incredible amount of detail, even when printed on a very large scale.
There are a million-and-one ways to add creative flares and effects to your shots in post-production after you’ve taken the image, but nothing beats the look and feel of an image that has used in-camera flares and bokeh effects.
“Northern Lights” is a new series of photos by French photographer Fabrice Wittner, who used stencils, light painting, and long exposure photography to combine historical portraits of Inuit people into modern-day polar night landscapes.
I have a confession to make. I often shoot in aperture priority mode. I’m a reasonably competent photographer with a solid grasp of the factors that drive exposure, but I don’t want to fiddle with multiple dials when I just want to take a photo.
Shooting directly into the Sun, whether it is sunrise or sunset, often results in some areas around the Sun getting clipped, and we get these rather harsh edges in our sky. Even when shooting bracketed or underexposing for the highlights, we may not achieve a pleasing result around the strongest light in a scene. This […]
To shoot directly into the sun is both challenging and fun. Challenging because it can be difficult to control the light and, not least, our images are very often marred by sun flare. One simple way of avoiding flare is to shoot an extra exposure with one finger or more obscuring the sun. Admittedly, it […]
It's quite easy for many photographers to scroll in their Instagram feed and double tap any dance photography that they see. The reason why is because it's all pretty magical. Like everyone in the photography community says and does though, everyone wants to do it.
Macro photography has always been a passion of mine, and exploring the universe at our feet can be almost magical. As beautiful as this genre of photography is, it really comes to life when you literally add an extra dimension to it.
Once you’ve matched the color tones in a composite photo, you can then move on to matching the saturation for proper realism. Here is a 5-minute tutorial from Antti Karppinen that shows how you can do so using Photoshop.
Here’s a 2-minute video in which cinematographer Matthew Rosen explains how he pulled focus at high speed for detergent ad. The shot was of falling detergent powder, captured at 1500 frames per second with a Phantom Miro camera.
If you take a look at photographer Charlie Kitchen‘s latest work, the images appear to be landscape photos with 3D shapes added in digitally. But appearances can be deceiving: each photo was created entirely in-camera without any help from Photoshop.
I’ve taken quite some mushroom photos over the last few years and most of them were done with my macro lens. Mushrooms are often tiny, and it’s very inviting to single them out with a beautiful soft background.
No doubt most of us have found ourselves in the following situation. . . You’ve discovered a beautiful landscape scene that you’ve carefully composed in your camera’s viewfinder.
The year was 2014. I was seven years younger and because of that, it was a very good year. Do you remember the time when it didn’t hurt to get out of bed? When camera bags didn’t feel like bags of wet cement, and when your eyesight was so good you could spot a discounted […]
In this article, I’ll share a technique that I learned many years ago and that I still use occasionally. You can use it for removing people from a scene, but in this case, I will be using it to mimic one of a neutral density (ND) filter’s main purposes: longer exposure. There are disadvantages to […]
As a busy Dad of two young boys, life gets hectic quite often. I still do plenty of photography, but gone are the long days spent in a blind waiting for a bird to appear. Nevertheless, I’ve found other ways to fulfill my creative desires.
My Snow Portrait series consists of photos taken using a technique I “invented” 8 years ago that utilizes the “hollow mask” 3D optical illusion. All the shots in this article are imprints of my face in fairly deep snow lit from underneath, almost like a lithophane.
Negative space in photography, design, sculpture, or any other creative pursuit is equally as important as is positive space in overall composition. It’s all about finding the right balance. Simply put, positive space is the actual subject while negative space (also called white space) is the area surrounding the subject. The latter acts as breathing […]
I have been getting quite experimental with my photography this year and recently stumbled upon Intentional Camera Movement, or ICM, photography. I fell into the work of photographer Andy Gray and was immediately blown away by the painterly feel of his images.
Let’s say I would like to enhance the stars in this Milky Way landscape photo. I could load the image into Camera Raw and add some Clarity at the risk of adding noise and artifacts to the night sky.
“Do you have 9 lights?” The account manager at Oakland University asked me. Somewhat inspired by a Queen album cover, he was looking to create an image where 9 award-winning students stood out in a dramatized version of a newly renovated space on campus.
Want to improve your macro photography game? Here’s a great 12-minute DPReview TV episode in which master macro shooter Don Komarechka demonstrates some simple techniques and setups you can use to capture better outdoor shots.
Here’s a 5-minute tutorial by photography artist Antti Karppinen that shares a technique for effectively dodging and burning your photo using the Gaussian Blur adjustment in Photoshop. While not suitable for every post-processing situation you may find yourself in, this dodge and burn method can help you to add “punch” to the shot. It adds contrast […]
There are many tips and tricks in Photoshop that can make editing life easier if you know how to use them. Here’s a 13-minute tutorial by PiXimperfect that teaches how you can easily identify and remove blemishes in portraits using a black-and-white adjustment layer.
Have you ever used Photoshop’s Calculations Tool? It allows you to quickly blend two images together with optional blend modes and opacity. This 10 minute video from PIXimperfect explains how the tool works, and how it can be used to quickly convert a color image to black and white. The video starts off with the […]
Adjusting colors of specific elements in a photograph can be used to bring harmony to an image or to add creative flair. Here’s a 5-minute video that shows how to match colors in Photoshop. Russell Brown’s example photograph features a red chair sitting in front of a water scene, wearing orange flippers. This, naturally, is […]
Photographer Karl Taylor and artist Ethan Davis both created the same still-life scene of an Apple Watch. Taylor used traditional photography techniques while Davis created one using only computer graphics. Which is which? [Read More]
I’ve often been asked that question and it’s relevant, so let’s examine it for a while. Let’s start at the very beginning -- the actual exposure of a negative. [Read More]
As with any genre of photography, there is no “one size fits all” solution for exposure in any given situation. There are as many different means of achieving a “look” as there are photographers practicing those methods, and any can be adapted to fit into the kind of photography you want to be doing. Having […]
Here’s a 6-minute video by photographer Kelly Hofer of Theory of Curiosity on Background Oriented Schlieren (BOS), a technique that lets you shoot photos and videos of heat using an ordinary camera and Photoshop.
Just starting out in photography and want to learn how to blur your backgrounds when shooting portraits? Here’s a 4-minute video from Sheldon Evans that looks at how you can create a beautiful bokeh in your photos.
Looking to add some drama or action to your photos but not quite sure how? Look no further… In simple terms, camera panning (or motion tracking as some people call it) is a technique where you follow a moving subject, shooting with a slower shutter speed to create a feeling of speed or action. If […]
The use of slit-scan photography is actually quite old. It is often called line-scan, photo finish, or streak photography. Slit-scan photography has a rich and colorful history rooted in chemical analog photography.
Natural Rotations is a photo series by Surrey, England-based photographer Simon Painter. Each of the images was created by spinning the camera while an exposure is in progress. “My technique involves moving the camera during an exposure of anything from 0.
As with most creatives, when I have a concept in mind it will distract and consume me until it becomes a reality. I wanted to create a conceptual self-portrait that was dreamlike, surreal, and relevant to an inner conflict in my life.