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5 Peculiar Principles to Live By as a Photographer

I’d like to think that as I age I get wiser. I sure hope so because I want to be a better person every day! Lately I’ve been pondering about principles. For most of my life I’ve been chasing after the 1-2-3 approach only to realize that things are so complex, I would have been better off knowing the principles of life rather than going in without any guiding principle.

This is the Pain of Using Your Camera’s Self Timer for a Group Photo

There are special agonies that are reserved for the "official photographers" of families and friends. One of them is when you sprint into the scene after setting your camera's self timer, only to have the camera snap the photo before you're ready. It was even worse in the days of film, when sometimes you might not even see the blooper until after the photos are processed.

8 Tips for Any Photographer Using Any Camera

As 2016 gets underway, I'd like to share 8 tips on how to take and make better images. To prove that this has nothing to do with how much fancy gear you have, all these tips can be applied to any camera, and all the example images were shot and edited using only my phone.

I Built Myself a 16×20-Inch Camera in 10 Hours

While sitting in a coffee shop last Friday, I really didn’t want to answer any more emails so I went to a bar instead, ordered a pint and sketched out a bit of a doodle for a big camera. I then called my buddy Zach who shares my open schedule and vague ability with power tools, and he stopped by my studio an hour later.

Stock in Trade, or: Why It’s Important to Read Photo Modeling Contracts

As photographers in the United States, we hold the majority of power when it comes to our images. We automatically own the copyright to all photos we take, we are the ones who register our photos with the U.S. Copyright office, and we are the ones who license our images to clients, publications, and even the models in the photos.

How to Shoot Futuristic Cityscapes of Dubai

I recently went on a 2-week trip to Dubai, a city with a futuristic appearance that looks like it came straight out of a movie like Blade Runner. If you enjoy shooting cityscapes, Dubai is where your dreams come true.

Fujifilm is Testing Medium Format Sensors

Fujifilm produced medium format cameras back in the heyday of film, but the company has focused on smaller formats ever since digital photography burst onto the scene. It's not ruling out a return to the medium format market -- in fact, Fuji says it's actively researching and testing medium format sensors.

100 Photographers ‘Flash Mob’ a Couple’s First Dance

During a wedding reception back in September 2013, photographer Tammy Bryan and the couple decided to have a little fun with the guests by organizing a flash mob. Bryan is the organizer of the Greater Cincinnati Photographers Club, and she asked 100 of the group's photographers to help brighten up the first dance... literally.

The Yin and Yang of Photography: The Artist and the Geek

One of the things I love about photography is it appeals to both the geek and the artist in all of us. On the geek side you have the technical considerations of making an image; the f-stops, shutter speeds, depth of field, histograms, dynamic range, all the stuff we must all master in order to communicate our vision.

These Surreal Portraits with Sharks are 100% Real

Upon first glance, photographer Benjamin Von Wong's latest work looks like a Photoshop composite that shows a model swimming with sharks below the sea. But what you see is the real deal: Von Wong did actually tie down a model underwater with sharks swimming around, all for a series of surreal (but very real) portraits.

I Shot Cinematic Portraits of My Inspiring Grandfather

My name is Dragos Ionescu. I was born in 1992 in Craiova, Romania, and moved to London, UK, almost 5 years ago to study and pursue a career in photography, and am currently in my final year of studying photography at University of East London.

The Story Behind David Bowie’s Legendary Mugshot

If you're a fan of the late musician David Bowie, there's a good chance you've seen these police portraits before. Often referred to as one of the best celebrity mugshots, the photos are mistakenly believed to be staged promotional photos. But they're not: they are official mugshots taken after Bowie was arrested for marijuana possession back in 1976.

How to Photograph the Milky Way

If you live in a remote area with dark skies, you are one of the lucky ones; the lucky ones that get to look up on a clear dark night and see a thick band of glowing light stretch across the sky.

Using Photos to Document the Plight of Vultures, the ‘Antiheroes of Our Ecosystems’

If you want to see a photojournalist who cares deeply about the subject they're covering, watch this 3-minute National Geographic video. In it, photographer Charlie Hamilton James discusses his photos of vultures -- one of the fastest declining families of birds in history, and what James calls "the world's forgotten environmental disaster." …

Sports Illustrated Lays Off 3 Top Photo Heads

There's more bad news in the photojournalism industry today: Sports Illustrated has laid off Director of Photography Brad Smith, Photo Editor Claire Bourgeois, and Photo Director John Blackmar. This comes almost exactly 1 year after the magazine laid off its entire roster of staff photographers.

8 Reasons You Should Buy a 50mm f/1.8 Lens

When people ask me what lens they should get after buying their first camera, I always tell them to buy a 50mm f/1.8 lens because it's one of the cheapest and one of the coolest lens you could buy. I have an old 50mm which is a little bit dirty and also quite old so I don't use it that often. But recently, my girlfriend bought me a brand new 50mm lens, so I fell in love with using the 50mm again.

VSCO Passes 30 Million Active Users

The Oakland, California-based photo software company VSCO is on a roll. After raising a whopping $70 million in venture funding -- $40M in 2014 and $30M in 2015 -- the company just announced that it has passed the 30 million user mark.

Why You Should Keep on Shooting, Even If No One is Watching

In a world obsessed with views, likes, and viral hits, it can be discouraging to feel like no one is paying any attention to the art you make. If that describes your photography, then you should watch this fantastic 10-minute video essay titled "Painting in the Dark: The Struggle for Art in A World Obsessed with Popularity." …