We’ve compiled thousands of photography tips for photographers of all sorts, from beginners to pros. Follow us for new tips every day, all from the world’s leading photography experts.
Forget Mugshots: 10 Steps to Better Portraits by David duChemin aims to help you take your portrait photography to the professional level. The author tried to pick the ten most significant factors that, combined, contribute to making powerful portraits. With valuable insights and many exercises to retain the information, it is a great training resource. […]
It’s such an exciting time getting ready to photograph your newborn. With some good baby photography tips, you can get some great shots. Shot List First, create a list of shots you want to take before you reach for your camera. When taking photos of your newborn, your time is limited, as there are many […]
The stage will always be dim so you need to compensate for that light. You should be shooting in a high ISO and a wide aperture. It’s good to stay in the ISO range of 1600 to 3200 (sometimes higher if the camera can handle it without too much noise) and not dip below an f/5-6. However, be aware that these settings will create a small depth-of-field range and higher noise levels. The key is to be flexible and quick when taking your pictures. It’s also important to increase your burst rate. The more frames you can shoot per second, the better because lights will be flashing and musicians will be moving.
One of the major debates in photography at the moment concerns the use of Photoshop or similar tools for manipulating the look of images. The issue ranges from photojournalists editing out ascetically unpleasing elements from news images to the manipulation of models in fashion magazines. In this short video, photographer Rick Shaff, shows us just how easy it is to produce misleading images, in particular before and after shots, commonly used in advertising from diet programs to muscle building drinks.
Black and white photography may appear to be simplistic but, the art of taking a monochrome image is a bit more complicated. The following clip gives a few pointers on how to create effective, high contrast images. To create that contrast, Morgan calls on his Hensel Porty Pack to power a key light which is used in combination with a softbox. He also hangs a silk to filter the ambient light, thus softening the hard sun. Morgan also prefers to blowout the background, resulting in sharp silhouettes. To light the model’s faces, he brought out a beauty dish and placed a grid on it which allows a controlled light output from the strobes.
There have been quite a few timelapse videos making an appearance lately and Randy Halverson’s, Temporal Distortion, might just be one of my favorites. His timelapse takes us into remote areas in the United States and shows us what the night sky looks like sans light pollution. It’s magical and if you don’t believe me, have a look for yourself in the following video. Halverson notes that much of what we see in the video is not able to be seen by the naked eye. Halverson called on his Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 60D to capture thousands of images, with exposure times anywhere from 15 to 30 full seconds each.
Professional photographer Jay P. Morgan delivers a pair of information packed video tutorials, this time showing viewers the in’s and out’s of using light reflectors, then combining the reflectors with strobe lights and natural lighting to deliver perfectly lit scenes. In the first tutorial, Morgan discusses white, gold, soft gold, and silver reflectors and explains in which scenarios each color should be used in. The importance of using the sun as a rim light and reflectors as key lights are also stressed in this tutorial. Take a look at the first video and we’ll recap the key points.
Professional advertising photographer, Julius Ise had long held the desire to attempt black light photography. Black light photography involves shooting subjects under ultra violet lights and excluding most if not all, visible light. The results are often highly colored and powerful looking images. The final result is a collection of very striking and colorful images and an excellent demonstration of the effects of black light photography.
Have you ever wondered how professional photographers are able to take panoramic pictures with ease? Have you ever wished that you had the skills or talents that these photographers have? Have you also wished that you had the extra dough to spend on the next best photography equipment that these photographers are using? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you are in for a real treat, as I will reveal to you 6 easy steps that you can follow to take panoramic pictures yourself. You will be shocked at how easy this is. You DO NOT need any special skills or talents. You DO NOT need any expensive photography equipment to begin.
Nineteen years later, Ripple experienced a moment much like the one Beilmann endured. Mark swam out to a surf break one afternoon with his 11-pound camera in tow, as he dove under water to avoid being smashed by a wave, he pulled up his camera and fired off a shot of his fellow swimmers. The picture perfectly captured the contorted faces and would be the beginning of a Ripple’s series of photographs, “The Underwater Project”. To hear Mark’s take on the project, take a look at his amazing niche of photography here.
