technique

We've shared a number of examples of surreal images created using multiple exposure techniques or by combining images using Photoshop, but did you know that you can also create beautiful images by stacking actual film negatives? Photographer Laina Briedis did some experiments with 35mm film stacking, and achieved some stunning results. She combined photos of stars and sky with pictures of people, creating images that look like they were plucked from someone's dreams.

A one-point perspective photograph is one in which there exists only a single vanishing point. Parallel lines in the scene all converge on that single point, leading away from the viewer. It can be used for interesting compositions, especially if that vanishing point is placed at the intersection points of the rule of thirds.

Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has a habit of using one-point perspective for dramatic effect, often with the vanishing point in the dead center of the frame, disorienting the viewer and creating tension for his scenes. Film enthusiast kogonada recently took a bunch of Kubrick films, collected the shots showing this technique, and created the interesting supercut seen above.

Photographer David Johnson recently captured a beautiful series of firework photos while attending the International Fireworks Show in Ottawa, Canada. During the Spanish fireworks performance, Johnson decided to deviate from the standard long-exposure style that pretty much everyone uses when shooting firework displays. Instead of fixing his focus at a certain point in space, Johnson introduced refocusing as part of the equation.

Have you ever wondered how Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson made Frodo Baggins the hobbit so much smaller than Gandalf the wizard? Aside from using CGI and child body doubles, the filmmaking team also employed brilliant forced perspective techniques that tricked viewers with optical illusions.

If you ever need to remove a photograph that has been glued to paper or cardboard, you can try …

Here's a tutorial by skateboarding photographer Michael Burnett in which he discusses various composition tips and techniques. His area of expertise is in shooting skateboarders, but the tips are very applicable for other types of photography as well.

Haristobald recently captured a series of Superman photographs without the use of Photoshop or body painting.

Adam Dachis over at Lifehacker offers a simple method for correcting underexposed photo with any image editor that supports …

If you’ve ever tried shooting in a dark location without using flash or a tripod, you probably know how …

Here’s an excellent video tutorial by photographer Peter Hurley on how to improve …

Kai of DigitalRev shares some tips — both serious and humorous — on …

Here’s a brief video in which Los Angeles-based photographer Mike Kelley shares his …

Wondering whether or not the shutter speeds on your camera are accurate? Instead of taking it to …

Here’s a quick tip for if you ever have a hard time removing a lens filter from …

You probably know that stopping down (i.e. increasing your f-stop number) can increase …

The photographs in artist Max de Esteban's Proposition One project might look like X-Ray images, but they were actually captured with an ordinary camera. They were created by carefully deconstructing old gadgets, photographing them in "layers", then "reassembling" the gadgets digitally. You can see them on display through December 9th at Klompching Gallery in NYC

Here’s an interesting factoid: to make the Star Wars scenes containing AT-AT walkers …

Here’s an illuminating (pun intended) video walkthrough by photographer Eric Curry, showing how …

If printing your film photos with the usual chemicals isn't old school enough for your taste, you should try your hand at making a salt print.

Here’s a fun and creative idea that requires brains rather than a big budget: using an ordinary video-capable camera …

While on vacation in Ireland five years ago and browsing a street fair, photographer Tom Storm captured a few shots of bubbles floating past. After reviewing the photos and discovering that a whole world was captured in the bubbles, he began to intentionally photograph bubbles while visiting landmarks around the world.

In this video, UK photography instructor Damien Lovegrove demonstrates how you can add …

Miklós Falvay used 3D camera mapping techniques …

You've probably heard of tossing your camera into the air for abstract light painting photos, but what about for actual photos? Wedding photographer Mike Larson shoots group photos from above -- with himself in the shot -- by throwing a DSLR and fisheye lens into the air and letting the timer trigger the shutter. You can find some examples of photos made using this technique over on Larson's website.

Photographer Binh Danh observed one summer that there was a difference in color between grass under a water hose and the grass directly exposed to sunlight. He then began to experiment with combining photography with photosynthesis, and came up with what he calls "chlorophyll prints" -- photographs printed onto leaves using the sun.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, photographer Alexey Titarenko observed how St. Petersburg streets that used to be lively and filled with joyful people had suddenly turned dark and gloomy, with people confused, malnourished, and worn out. He decided to capture this change by shooting the streets at slow shutter speeds, turning the downtrodden crowds into shadowy figures. He titled the resulting project "City of Shadows".

Hayashi Natsumi’s levitation photos have received a lot of publicity as of late (check out her blog …

Ordinarily if there’s movement in a timelapse video, it’s constrained to a small area because a dolly or crane …

Ken Murphy created this time-lapse showing an entire 360-degree view overlooking San Francisco using only a single camera:

The camera (a Canon A590 with CHDK installed) snapped an image every five seconds while the motorized mount slowly rotated, making a single rotation in 90 minutes. I assembled the images into this panoramic movie, in which each “pane” is actually the same movie, slightly offset in time. The panes combine to make a single 360-degree view. [#]

Why settle for one boring lightning bolt when you can show 70+ bolts in the same photograph? Photographer Chris …

Math major and photo enthusiast Kris Hollingsworth created this beautiful photograph in which he light-painted an entire poem! It took patience and perseverance: practicing the technique took 15 hours, while the actual light painting took another two hours. The image is actually 9 separate photographs in one -- eight lines of poetry and the self-portrait of Hollingsworth.

Here's a good example of when HDR photography is useful: NASA created this image of the Space Shuttle Endeavour lifting off for the final time by combining six separate photographs.

Each image was taken at a different exposure setting, then composited to balance the brightness of the rocket engine output with the regular daylight levels at which the orbiter can be seen. The processing software digitally removes pure black or pure white pixels from one image and replaces them with the most detailed pixel option from the five other images. This technique can help visualize debris falling during a launch or support research involving intense light sources like rocket engines, plasma experiments and hypersonic vehicle engines. [#]

Here's a quick video tutorial by Olivia Speranza teaching how to create an infinite white background.

Redscale is a technique where film is exposed on the wrong side -- rather than having the light hit the emulsion directly, you expose the film through the non-sensitive side.

The name "redscale" comes because there is a strong color shift to red due to the red-sensitive layer of the film being exposed first, rather than last (the red layer is normally the bottom layer in C-41 (color print) film). All layers are sensitive to blue light, so normally the blue layer is on top, followed by a filter. In this technique, blue light exposes the layers containing red and green dyes, but the layer containing blue dye is left unexposed due to the filter. [#]

The two main ways for doing this are loading the film upside down (if your camera allows it), or by purchasing film that has been "converted" already. A third way is to make DIY redscale film by going into a darkroom, pulling out the film, cutting it, flipping it, taping it back together, and then winding it back into the canister. Messy, but it works!

Photographer Joey Celis needed to shoot a photograph of eleven people in a dimly lit cigar lounge, but found it difficult to light the models without having lighting gear appear in the shot. In the end, he was able to make the image above with a single Speedlite.

Photographer Denis Smith creates photos giant balls of light without any digital trickery, relying instead on light-painting. His technique is to spin a light around while slowly turning his body, creating spheres of light when seen in a long exposure photo.

Flickr user Paul Little creates surreal images he calls "HDR Mixes" by combining different photographs with the help of HDR software. While you're normally supposed to feed the program multiple versions of the same photo (which are bracketed), with HDR Mixes you use two photos of the same scene and a third that's completely unrelated.

Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher had the brilliant idea of using custom bokeh to spell out words in his videos, and spent a good amount of time developing and perfecting the idea. The above video, titled "Light Works", is a demonstration of this technique in action. The results are pretty awesome.

The concept of hyperfocal distance is used in landscape photography to achieve the greatest depth …

After photographer Ross Ching came across Dentsu London's creative 3D light painting technique with an iPad, he decided to give it a try, combining it with timelapse photography to make a music video for "I'll Try Anything Once" by The Strokes (seen above). The app he used was Holographium, which you can pick up for $5 from the app store.