2016

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The Basics of U.S. Copyright for Photographers

When I was in college, I lived for a while in a crappy little rental house next to a cemetery. Neither I nor my roommate, Brad, knew how to cook anything, and we ate bologna sandwiches pretty much all the time. Eventually, someone gave us a cookbook so simple that even a half-starved English major could learn a few basic dishes--the first page actually had step-by-step instructions, with pictures, for making toast in a toaster.

How to Create Foreground Bokeh with Water Drops on Glass

This foreground bokeh look is actually a setup I played around with a few times many years ago. I thought it would be a good, fun setup to share, as you can get some interesting results whilst playing around the much-loved bokeh.

How to Turn a Bus Stop Ad Into a Portrait Studio

If you want a neat example of creativity in action, look no further than photographer Andrew Tihi's recent portrait adventure. Watch as he uses a backlit bus stop advertisement to help him capture a glowing portrait against a white backdrop.

These Shots Helped Me Win the British Army’s Photo Contest

My name is Timothy Jones, and I'm a Bristol-based photographer currently serving as a British Army Photographer. I was also just awarded Photographer of the Year by the Army Photographic Competition 2016 for my photos showing military life over the past 12 months.

The (Fading) Art of Street Photography

I am a street photographer currently based in Manila, the Philippines. I prefer to photograph the streets alone or with a non-photographer, but on the occasions when I do shoot with fellow photographers, I tend to find myself painfully trapped in conversations about gear.

This Photographer Turned a Potato Into a Camera

Low quality photos and videos are often referred to these days as being "potato quality," or so bad that they look like they were taken using a potato. But for photographer Colin Lowe, "potato quality" is a spot-on description for some of his photos because they were literally taken with a potato.

Rare Footage of Animals That Have Gone Extinct

It is estimated that over 99% of all species that have lived on Earth have gone extinct, and a number of notable ones have disappeared just over the past century. Thanks to the existence of cameras, however, we have a more accurate visual record of what some recently extinct animals looked like.

Capturing the Milky Way with a Phone, Compared to the Sony a7R II

I just got back from Batanes as part of a large group of bloggers and other media people who were there to try out the photography features of the Asus Zenfone 3 line of mobile phones, courtesy of Asus Philippines. I was there mainly as a resource person on shooting the Milky Way, but I was intrigued about the possibility of pulling off Milky Way shots using a mobile phone.

148 Photo Editing Tools and Apps

Earlier this year, after researching photo editing tools, I shared a list of 104 photo editing tools you should know about. After receiving a great deal of interest and feedback from the photography community, I've created one final ultimate list of 148 photo editing tools and photography apps.

Yard Sale Find: $10 for an Amazing Portrait Lens

I recently returned home from my trip to Egypt, and with my wife due any day now, I had some time to squander on lens hunting. A local craigslist post revealed that one of the camera shops in town was having a yard sale to clear out all of their old stuff in preparation for moving to a new location. I wasn’t about to pass up on a camera shop yard sale!

When Photography Changed the World

The ability of art to influence humanity’s collective consciousness has somewhat been masked in a veil of uncertainty. While it has been widely agreed upon among scholars of art history that art has always held an important role in the influence of beliefs, as in religion and popular opinion, it is important to try and understand art’s role in that influence.

This Photographer Builds Her Fantasy Worlds by Hand, No Photoshop

The world of the fantasy, fine art photographer typically involves a healthy helping of Adobe Photoshop. But if digital art and crazy composites are on one end of the spectrum, then photographer Adrien Broom is on the other—no Photoshop, just incredibly intricate hand-made props and sets.

5 Best Lenses for Portrait Photography

Questions on the subject of lens choice are as limitless as lens choice itself. Show me 10 photographers and I’ll show you at least 11 divergent opinions on which lens is right for a particular type of photograph.

What I Learned from My First Instagram Takeover

At the time of my takeover of the Visit Faroe Islands account, my own account was around 5k followers. To briefly run and manage a page that has surpassed 100k was a great learning experience. Here are a few things I learned along the way that might help others.

10 Novice Photoshop Mistakes You Should Avoid

Selective color, bad HDR, over-sharpening, we've all seen (and if we're honest, probably made) these Photoshop mistakes... but are you sure you're still not committing some Photoshop faux pas? In this video, Nate Dodson of TutVid covers 10 common novice mistakes you should avoid.

Beautiful Aerial Photos of Vietnam’s Street Vendors

While living in Hanoi, Vietnam, photographer Loes Heerink became fascinated by the city's street vendors and the mobile art they created atop their bicycles every single day. So she set out to capture this beauty in an interesting, maybe even unique way. That's how Vendors from Above was born.

Twitter Killing Off Vine: Goodbye Six-Second Videos

After being acquired by Twitter in 2012 and launching to the public in 2013, Vine became a pioneer of the idea of sharing short videos socially. Now its famous 6-second video loops are coming to an end: Twitter announced today that it's discontinuing the Vine mobile app.

An Introduction to Digital Infrared Photography

The human eye is incapable of seeing infrared light, so infrared photography is truly a way to show your audience something they can never see with their own eyes. Here's a guide to getting started with digital infrared photography.