My Journey in Photographing the Northern Lights

In December 2014, I decided that I wanted to practice shooting the night sky in order to expand my photography skills. Of course, I made every possible mistake. My compositions were completely off, I severely underexposed or blew out the sky and the images were not sharp.

Yes, The Huawei P30 Pro Can Shoot the Milky Way (and Even Meteors)

My Huawei P30 Pro arrived at 4:30 pm on April 6th, and I knew the night sky in Mersing would be amazing for me to try out this low-light beast. I had read a lot of good reviews on P30 Pro, but I was still skeptical, so I booked a room at my regular resort on the same day and drove 3 hours to get there.

Review: Tamron 35-150mm f/2.8-4 is a Portrait Zoom with Endless Flexibility

Back in February, Tamron announced the development of three new lenses: the 35mm f/1.4 for DSLRs, the 17-28mm f/2.8 for Sony FE, and the 35-150mm f/2.8-4 for DSLRs. We just received the 35-150mm f/2.8-4 Di VC OSD for Nikon F mount to test out for a few days. It’s always exciting to test out new gear, and especially exciting when it’s a unique lens like the 35-150mm.

Shooting a Tourism Campaign in Kerala, India

I’m on the bow of the boat, bag over my camera, when the rain falls. We’re drifting over Alleppey’s backwaters, fed by the Arabian Sea and 38 rivers from across Kerala, southern India. 900km of waterways connect to each other, irrigating rice paddy fields and forming a natural human ecosystem built by the hands of India’s people in kinship to the surrounding landscape. It is a testament to the power of human nature -- to live in accordance with the land and its diverse inhabitants.

How to Pose Men Who Are Not Models

Australian fashion, portrait, and lifestyle photographer Julia Trotti made this helpful 11.5-minute video that provides tips and tricks for photographing men who don't have any experience with posing and modeling.

Are You an Ethical Photographer?

A group of boys in Baraboo, WI assembled for a junior prom photo and posed with a Nazi salute. One of the boys posted the image to Twitter with the caption “We even got the black kid to throw it up.” In the midst of public outrage, it was revealed that a professional photographer not only took the image but directed them to “wave goodbye.”

6 Decisions to Making a Good Photo

Today we are going to be shooting a photo that I have been wanting to do for a while now, but just haven’t made the time. There are these beautiful wildflowers that grow up on a hill near my house that I envisioned for this kite shot.

7 More Composition Tips to Improve Your Landscape Photos

Composition is so important in creating an image and it's a cornerstone of the four key elements that make up a photo: subject, light, timing, and composition. However, one of the hardest things to learn in landscape photography is seeing that image and putting the elements together in the most pleasing arrangement.

Photographers, We Need to Put Nature First

What is the most important thing for a photographer? The simple and easy answer is the camera, or something closely related to it (like tripods or lights). And for many photographers that might be true… but not for a nature or landscape photographer. What we prize most, what we need most is uncompromising vistas of land, views unobstructed by the hand of man.

Canon and Nikon Imaging Sales Drop 17%+ Over Past Year

Canon and Nikon both published their latest financial reports over the past couple of weeks, and the numbers don't paint a rosy picture for the camera industry. Both companies reported a decline in imaging business sales of around 17% over the previous year.

Scientific Errors in Those Nat Geo Milky Way Photos

The night sky offers an unlimited source of markers (e.g. stars, constellations, Milky Way, etc.) that never lie about the time of year and location in the world you shot a night sky picture from. You don’t even need to be a professional astronomer or to double-check RAW files to prove it.

Adobe CC Removes Older Versions of Photoshop and Lightroom

Adobe Creative Cloud has long allowed subscribers to download and use much older versions of their desired apps, but the company has pushed out a change that limits how far back you can go. Creative Cloud now no longer offers anything before the latest two major versions of its apps.

Rediscovering the Orotone

The modern orotone can be created in a number of ways, the most popular using a coating of liquid emulsion on a glass plate with a gelatine base. This method produces some excellent results with a minimum of effort.

Night Skiing Lit by Flares on Drones

Four years ago, Swiss freeskier and filmmaker Nicolas Vuignier had the idea of lighting a night skier using a drone. After a great deal of planning and work, this 4-minute short film titled "Heatseeker" is what resulted. It features beautiful footage of a skier hurtling down the mountainside at night under the glow of a drone-mounted flare.

9 of My Worst Habits as a Landscape Photographer

We all have them, some more than others, but one thing we all have in common is a desire to eliminate them. What I’m referring to are bad habits. I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but in this video and article, I discuss the 9 worst habits that have negatively impacted my landscape photography over the years.

Ep. 321: Doesn’t Adobe Have Enough Money Already?!!! – and more


Episode 321 of the PetaPixel Photography Podcast.
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Featured: Maternity and newborn photographer, Diana Robles

Shooting a Milky Way Moonrise from an Airplane Seat

A couple of weeks ago I was blessed with a sight that truly left me in a state of awe. Shortly after leveling off onboard United 534 from Honolulu to Los Angeles, I tried my luck with some astrophotography over the crisp Pacific Ocean skies.

How to Hire a Professional Event Photographer

This article will focus on how to choose an event photographer, but before getting into how to hire a professional photographer, it’s important to first discuss why you should hire one.

A Chat with Bruce Gilden About Life, Work, and Photography

Renowned British documentary photographer Martin Parr has been interviewing photographers for a series titled "Sofa Sessions: Conversations with Martin Parr." In the latest chat, Parr sat down with iconic American street photographer Bruce Gilden to talk about his life, career, and photography.

Shooting Like Bruce Gilden Is Harder Than It Looks

Bruce Gilden is one of the top street photographers of our generation. He’s controversial, talented and he has his own style… so there’s no question as to why some might want to emulate him.

5 Modifiers for Photographers on the Move

A little while ago I was teaching one of my lighting workshops and one of the attendees was looking to implement some of the set-ups I was sharing into his workflow. Seems simple enough right? Well, it turns out this photographer was a Formula 1 trackside shooter that needed to get portraits of drivers and crew.

Photographing a Floral Float Parade Over a Century Old

For over a hundred years, a parade of floral floats called Corso Fleuri de la Mi-Carême has been held in the village of Roquebrune-sur-Argens in the Provence region of France.

This Milky Way Photo on Nat Geo is Raising Eyebrows

National Geographic recently published a series of gorgeous photos by photographer Beth Moon that shows some of the world's oldest trees under the stars. But one photo, in particular, is now raising eyebrows after sharp-eyed readers noticed something strange about it.

A Multi-Plate, Multi-Lens Daguerreotype Panorama

I’ve been experimenting non-stop with a few new daguerreotype techniques lately, and however promising the results are looking so far, those experiments are slow going. But here’s something I thought up and was able to execute in a relatively speedy manner -- something I believe warrants a look. I don’t believe this method of making a panoramic image has ever been utilized before, so I’m dubbing it the "Antorama."

Lens Filters and Landscape Photos

In this article, I'll discuss how I use lens filters in my landscape photography. Chiefly I use filters when I want to smooth the water in a waterfall, shoot long exposures, or balance the light in a scene.

B&H Will Refund All Sales Tax for Every Customer with Its New Credit Card

Online shopping used to give buyers the perk of not having to pay sales tax, but the Supreme Court ruled last year that states can force online retailers to collect taxes. B&H just unveiled a solution to this "sales tax problem": it launched a new credit card that refunds all sales tax on all orders for all customers.

How to Create In-Camera Effects with a Bride’s Wedding Veil

In this video and article, we’ll show you how you can use a bridal veil to create interesting flares and light leaks in-camera. It can be hard to get the right amount of flare in an image, especially when the sun is overpowering the frame. Here is a simple trick we like to use to block just enough sun to get the perfect shot.

Do You Have Instagram Derangement Syndrome?

​I love Instagram. But I worry that it’s driving my fellow photographers crazy. I've seen so many photographers do so many wacky things in search of Instafame that I've given the madness a name. I call it… Instagram Derangement Syndrome.

Remove.bg Brings 1-Click Background Removal to Photoshop

Remove.bg is a popular web app that can cut subjects out of backgrounds in photos in just seconds without any input from the user. After receiving quite a bit of press coverage in late 2018, the app just announced a new free Photoshop plugin that provides one-click background removal.

How to Fix Blown Out Areas Around the Sun

Shooting directly into the Sun, whether it is sunrise or sunset, often results in some areas around the Sun getting clipped, and we get these rather harsh edges in our sky. Even when shooting bracketed or underexposing for the highlights, we may not achieve a pleasing result around the strongest light in a scene.

The Pine Cone: Nature’s Memory Card Holder and Display

Every year, a pine tree close to our house produces the most perfect cones, and I often pick up a handful of them on my way home. The cones are undeniably beautiful, but not of much practical use. Or so I thought, until one day it hit me that a cone would make a rather nifty SD card holder.

Shooting the Milky Way in Missouri

Living in St. Louis almost my entire life, I was lead to believe the lights of the bustling city were too bright to make seeing stars anywhere nearby impossible. As I grew older and started getting serious about photography, I realized that was correct... kinda.