Inspiration

Into the Unknown: How I Reinvented Myself After 25 Years at Sports Illustrated

Over the years I’ve been contacted through social media, emails and in person by young photographers seeking advice on being a sports photographer. I never try and discourage them, but I also have to try and be honest: Sports Photography is dead as a profession… sad but true. I know very few who are scratching out a living shooting sports.

Is Street Photography a Fad that Has Run Its Course?

Fourteen years ago I took an interest in street photography. I went looking for resources and information on this amazing genre, unfortunately to no avail, until I came across a great free ebook in 2006 called “Street Photography for the purist” by Chris Weeks.

The Only Three Lenses You Need for Landscape Photography

If you're just getting into landscape photography and you're not sure what lenses you actually need for this genre, photographer Mads Peter Iversen is here to help. In one of his most popular videos to date, Iversen lays out the only 3 lenses you "need" for landscape photography."

The Secret to Developing Your Street Photography

Shooting street photography without a project in mind is like shopping for food when you’re hungry. You might get a few nice treats, but ultimately you get back and find there is nothing to sustain you.

7 Tips for Better Black and White Street Photography

COOPH recently got together with London-based street photographer and co-founder of Street Photography Internationa Alan Schaller to talk about one of the most deceptively difficult forms of photography out there: black and white street photography.

Why Umbrellas are the Most Under-Appreciated Lighting Modifier

In this short tutorial, well-known portrait and fashion photographer Lindsay Adler will show you how to use "the most inexpensive and under-appreciated" lighting modifier to capture beautiful studio portraits. She's talking, of course, about the lowly umbrella.

Photo Essay: Cashmere Crisis Looms in Himalayan Ice Desert

Location: Changthang Plateau, Ladakh, Kashmir - December 2019. At an altitude of more than 14,000ft, where winter temperatures can fall to -40 degrees, it is hard to believe anyone or anything can survive in this vast ice desert that is the Changthang Plateau.

11 Secrets to Up Your Night Street Photography Game

I’m going to share with you 11 secrets that will help you up your night street photography game. These tips are based on what I teach paying customers on my London Soho Night Street Photography workshops, but don’t worry if you’re coming to one, I have many more secrets!

Trust the Process: Advice for Anxious Photographers

In my early years of photography, I was very concerned with making "ART." Each time I would pick up a camera I would be filled with anxiety, thinking that I need to bring home that "picture of the century." I have to tell you, I seldom did.

10 Portrait Photography ‘Hacks’ You’ll Wish You Knew Sooner

Portrait photographer Miguel Quiles recently released a two-part series on "portrait hacks" that might be his most popular series of tips ever. In the videos, he covers 10 tips from his years of experience shooting and teaching workshops—tips that he says "everyone wishes they knew sooner."

10 Tips for Photographing ‘Abstract Landscapes’

As a landscape photographer I’m a big fan of grand vistas and photographing with wide angle lenses. But sometimes the smaller things can be just as impressive. In this little article I'll be sharing some tips that will hopefully give you some inspiration when photographing abstracts. And when you start to see them, you can’t stop photographing them. It’s very addicting!

Astronaut Shoots Spacewalk Selfies with a Nikon D5

This past weekend, NASA astronaut and physiologist Jessica Meir one-upped everybody else's #SelfieSunday posts when she uploaded two spacewalk selfies taken outside the International Space Station (ISS) with a special Nikon D5.

A Simple Editing Tip for Creating More Dramatic Landscape Photos

Landscape photographer and YouTuber Mark Denney recently shared what might be his most controversial photo editing tip yet. In a video titled "The Simple Secret of Creating Dramatic Landscape Photos" he argues that a Vignette—yes, a Vignette—is one of the single most effective ways to improve your landscape photographs.

Fashion Meets Fantasy in the Stunning Photography of Bella Kotak

The latest installment of SmugMug Films brings up behind the scenes with fine art fashion photographer Bella Kotak, whose stunning imagery toes the line between fashion and fantasy, creating a look that's immediately recognizable and nearly always awe-inspiring.

Making My Own DIY Super-Wide-Angle Macro Lens

As we know, wide angle lenses show a larger field of view and therefore make things appear smaller and further away than they are. Which contradicts the concept of macro photography, where we want our subject to be projected onto the sensor at a magnification ratio of at least 1.0x. So how can we combine a wide angle perspective and macro macro-capabilities?

5 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Vintage Lenses

Photographer and YouTuber Mark Holtze thinks that you (and everyone else) should give vintage lenses a try. And in the video above, he lays out his top 5 reasons why you should try vintage glass in 2020.

7 Simple Camera Hacks in 90 Seconds

This is one of those cases where the headline does most of the work. In the video above, commercial and lifestyle photographer Pav SZ has squeezed seven simple camera hacks that you should definitely try into just 90 seconds of demonstration.

7 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started My Photography Business

A few weeks ago, I was in town when I heard a lady say to her friend, “That photo you posted of Sebastian was soooooo beautiful. While you’re on maternity leave, you should totally start doing photography as a business…”

Pro Tip: Stop Buying Camera Gear to Improve Your Landscape Photos

Despite many (many) articles and advice videos and IG posts on the subject, many beginners still believe that the best thing they can do for their landscape photography is buy a better camera or lens. So here's another reminder from photographer Mark Denney about why this is not the case.

A Quick Tour Through the Nikon Museum In Tokyo

It’s a weird bond and a strange badge of honor that I’ve never strayed from Nikon. I love photography, but I also marvel at the tool itself. I am also honored to have worked on many advertising campaigns for Nikon in Japan, from cameras like the D600 and the never introduced pocket DL, to making sample photos for a variety of new Nikon lenses.

Low Contrast Lens Filters: What They are and Why You Should Use Them

As the name of the filter alludes to, these lens filters do indeed lower the overall contrast of a shot. To clarify what that means in relation to photography: these filters will reduce the darkness of the shadows by allowing light to bleed into them from surrounding highlights.

Why Artists are Never Happy: A Candid Message for Creatives

Whether you're a photographer, a filmmaker, a YouTuber, or a painter, this latest video by Kaiwan Shaban will probably hit home on some level. It's an honest, candid message for artists of all stripes who struggle with the fact that they are never quite satisfied with the work they are creating.

The 10 Most Popular PetaPixel Posts of the Decade

On May 14th, 2009 a little blog called PetaPixel made its debut. More than 10 years and nearly 27,000 published posts later (26,886 to be exact), as we wrap up our first full decade in existence, it seemed appropriate to look back at the ten most popular articles of the decade.

f/0.95 and Be There: Fixing 10 Famous Photography Quotes

If you know me, then you know I love a good one-liner. In fact, I put together what may be the best collection of portrait photography quotes in history. But even I can get sick of hearing the same old pearls of wisdom from the same old boomers. So I’ve upgraded 10 famous photography quotes so they make more sense in our modern photography world.

Shooting Creative Holiday Portraits at Night with a Single Flash

Photographer and YouTuber Irene Rudnik was recently scrolling through Instagram when she stumbled across some beautiful blue-hour snow portraits by photographer @kateblc. Like any good artist, she decided to run with that inspiration, and in the video above, she takes us along behind the scenes to see how she captured a beautiful holiday-themed nighttime portrait using only a single flash.

Use Composition to Enhance Your Candid Photos

Composition doesn't make a candid, but a good composition can enhance it. It can amplify what you feel about the subject matter or invoke a reaction all on its own. Today I’m going to share with you 5 tips on composition to enhance your candids.

Dear Introverted Photographer: Top Tips from Two Successful Introverts

Can an introvert "make it" as a professional photographer? According to self-proclaimed introverts and successful shooters Manny Ortiz and Taylor Jackson, the answer is a resounding "yes," and in this video they explain how they each overcame the challenges of being an introvert in a highly interactive industry.

15 Inspiring Landscape Photographers

There is a plethora of very talented landscape photographers out in the field these days, both hobbyists and professionals alike. The following is a collection of some of them, and may you enjoy their talent, craftsmanship, and dedication to the genre.