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Trey Ratcliff Wrote a Book Exposing How People Cheat at Instagram

Brands spent an estimated $2 billion on marketing through Instagram "influencers" in 2017, and that number is expected to balloon to $10 billion by 2020. The game has become so lucrative that many people are finding all kinds of ways to fake influence in order to reap the rewards. Popular photographer Trey Ratcliff has written a new book that exposes these "cunning tricks."

Shooting Portraits Wide Open Versus Stopping Down

If you have a fast and expensive lens, it may feel like a waste to shoot portraits stopped down to f/8, f/11, or f/16. But in this 20-minute video, photographer Miguel Quiles explains why he often opts to shoot stopped down instead of wide open for increased depth of field and finer details and textures.

Creating Your Own Assignments in Street Photography

Street photography is one of the best ways to exercise and train your eye for application to photojournalism projects. I've written before about the way I apply the techniques and style from my street photography to my set stills and BTS as well as my long term fashion BTS project and I think that practicing some form of street photography every single day is an incredible way to keep your eye active and your mind constantly searching for new possibilities.

Why Can’t We Celebrate An Image Without Snark?

I’ve read The Onion headlines and McSweeney’s pieces that have knocked me off my chair. I can still remember staying up late during high school to watch Saturday Night Live sketches like “Change Bank,” or Dave Chapelle’s Killing Me Softly on HBO. I’m a person who can appreciate good humor and satire.

Photographing NBA Star Dwyane Wade in China

Doing a photo shoot in China is different than anything I have experienced on any set anywhere else in the world. Heck, just getting from the hotel to the set is like playing a video game when it comes to driving on the roads... or sidewalks, for that matter. However, to go to a country expecting it not to have a different culture is ethnocentric and prepares one for nothing.

Recreating the First Color Photo Ever Made

In the "Olden Days," professional science was still in its infancy. People who trained in science and practiced science were using every ounce of creativity and imagination at their disposal to discover the nature of the world. They were scrappy and inventive. In this article, I will outline a modern replication of the experiment that produced the first color photograph ever made.

How to Take a Picture of a Black Hole

The first-ever picture of a black hole was unveiled yesterday, generating a huge amount of interest and excitement across the world. But how exactly was this picture captured? Well, it definitely wasn't as simple as "pointing and clicking" a giant camera.

An ASMR Video for Photographers

ASMR videos have exploded in popularity over the past few years. Capitalizing on this trend, photographer Noe Alonzo of South Korea made this 6-minute tongue-in-cheek video titled "Camera ASMR" with sounds photography lovers will appreciate (you may need to turn up your sound for the full effect).

3 Essential Tips for Landscape Photography

Before a presentation we did during a bad-weather day on a photography workshop I co-guided in Northern Norway, I was asked to give my best advice for landscape photographers. I wanted to talk about some slightly different topics rather than repeating standard tips such as "straighten the horizon," "use f/11," and "photograph during golden hour."

Are You Sharpening Your Photos Enough?

I’ll own up to this and say that I’m guilty of being stuck in my ways. But age is no excuse for not being as adaptive as I should be to the changing times. But let me explain.

7 Tricks for Making Basic Selections in Photoshop

Making selections is one of the most basic things that you do in Photoshop, but there are many handy features and tricks that can help you work with selections. Here's a 2-minute video by Adobe with 7 helpful tricks, some of which you may not have known before.

Seeing Bad Ads on PetaPixel? Here’s How You Can Help

We've been receiving an increased number of reports of bad ads such as redirects and popups ruining the PetaPixel reading experience on mobile. No, these ads aren't intentionally being served, and we'd love to remove them, but we need your assistance. If you're one of the many who has been seeing these ads, you can help us identify and block them if you have a few seconds to spare.

10 Life Hacks for Your Photo Studio

Having a photography studio is fun, but it is even more fun when you start applying simple and cheap solutions plus common sense to make your shooting experience (and your clients’ experience) smoother.

Building a Photo-Editing Computer on the Cheap

Having returned to photography after a lay-off of some years, I had discovered a whole new world, where, among other things, computers had largely replaced darkrooms. It soon became apparent that my Windows 10 laptop was sadly underrated for the tasks required. I began to research alternatives.

Hands-On with Sharp’s Sub-$5,000 8K Mirrorless Camera

During the be beginning of the year, Sharp Corporation unveiled a surprising, small handheld Micro Four Thirds 8K camera – but back then we had very few details about it. Now, just before NAB 2019 is about to begin, we had the opportunity to talk to Kaino-san from Sharp, who was kind enough to answer our questions and also let us have a short spin with it.

10 Quotes from Writers That Will Make You a Better Photographer

It might sound strange to suggest that writers can teach us anything about photography. I believe, though, that any creative pursuit springs from the same space within us, whether it’s photography, writing, painting or even making exquisitely beautiful cakes.

The Model Release in Travel Photography

While most commercial photographers know about copyright laws and the use of a model for their images, it seems the answer isn’t so clear when it comes to travel photography. If you’re traveling the world with your camera, what laws apply for you and for your subject?

Ep. 318: This Firmware…Does That – and more


Episode 318 of the PetaPixel Photography Podcast.
Download MP3 -  Subscribe via iTunes, Google Play, email or RSS!
Featured: LA photographer, Kristen Bautista

How Shooting from Eye Level (or Not) Makes a Difference

A very slight and easy change one could implement to an otherwise straightforward approach in street photography (as well as other genres) is to play with shooting from angles other than eye-level. It may an unconscious choice by some people that their perspective doesn't shift much from their own, so I think it's important to discuss how even a minor alteration in angle can improve, or at least change, the image.

The Best Smoke Bomb for Photos (and Tips for Using It)

Over the past couple of years, smoke bombs have become a popular photography accessory that adds a colorful new twist to portraits. They are being used for street portraiture, gender reveals, engagement shoots, and so much more. We found the best smoke bomb for photography usage and in this 6.5-minute video and article, we are going to give you 5 tips on how to use them safely and creatively.

How to Photograph Flowers Splashing in Milk with an Infrared Laser

We came up for the idea to do this shoot when we saw someone on Instagram who was dropping flowers into milk and just manually trying to get the timing right. Although they were able to get nice photos of the splash some of the time, they would miss the splash just as often as they were able to capture it. We knew we could build a rig that let us capture the perfect flower splash moment every single time. In all, we took about 70 photos and successfully captured the splash every time.

Curiosity Rover Captures Two Solar Eclipses on Mars

Photographers have captured many awe-inspiring photos of solar eclipses in recent years. But Earth isn't the only planet photos are being shot from: NASA's Curiosity rover has captured some beautiful solar eclipse photos over the past few weeks from the surface of Mars.