The soul of an image is not always visible in what the viewer sees, but lives in what the photographer experienced. Uneducated eyes are often all too quick to criticize a black and white image by Henri Cartier-Bresson, without taking into account what he had to create with, and the cutting edge that his work represented in the early 1900’s.
Shooting RAW gives you a lot of latitude to make exposure adjustments in post, but it’s still vital to understand how to correctly expose a scene to avoid clipping highlights and destroying shadows. This 3-part series from photographer Greg Benz will teach you everything you need to know to get the shot.
Episode 185 of the PetaPixel Photography Podcast.
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Featured: Author and photographer, David Duchemin
Ever since I decided to start learning photography, I’ve been looking for a good catalog of composition ideas. Once you figure out the mechanics of how a DSLR works, getting good at the composition of your photos seems to be the 80/20 of rapidly improving at photography.
Magnum Photos, one of the most prestigious photographic agencies in the world, is celebrating a storied 70-year history this year, but it is a history that has not been without financial trouble. The agency has recently announced that they will be taking outside investment for the first time to help them grow and innovate in the digital age.
It's difficult to stand out from the crowd in still life photography. When someone picks up a camera for the first time, still life is probably the initial thing they try. Therefore the internet is packed full of still life images, but these tips will help to give your photos an edge.
The golden hour is popular amongst landscape photographers, but it is definitely worth utilising this for outdoor portraiture. By positioning the sun behind or in front of the subject, the lighting is changed dramatically. It's just like having a giant light on in the studio, but it is golden and delicious in the evening.
When Facebook took over Instagram, it was clear it would adopt the same changes seen in Facebook news feeds that are known so well. Algorithms push certain stories higher in feeds, rather than displaying them in chronological order. Now, sponsored posts will be clearly labelled in a bid to out paid product placement on the platform.
If you're a tall white guy walking around in touristy parts of China, there's a good chance you may be stopped by random people and asked to pose for a photo. This strange phenomenon can be seen in this 3-minute video recorded a few years ago by comedian Paul Ogata. It's titled, "Yes You May Photograph My White Guy."
The action camera world is dominated by GoPro, both above and below sea level, thanks to its image quality and tough housings. But now Danish startup company Paralenz looks to shake up the market with its action camera targeted specifically to scuba divers.
Hey guys. I'm a long-time PetaPixel reader and guest writer, but to avoid tarnishing my photography business forever and making my clients super uncomfortable, I’m going to use a pseudonym for this story of my worst nightmare coming true. Just call me Ernst Barnak.
Manfrotto has updated its line of Pro Light Bumblebee camera bags with two backpacks and two messenger bags, which the company says are designed for comfort in harsh outdoor conditions and huge storage capacity.
I’ve been photographing extreme weather for 25 years. After publishing tips on how to photograph lightning here back in March, I was asked to share any tips I have in capturing an award-winning tornado image. So, here I go…
In a long anticipated move, Verizon has now confirmed its acquisition of Flickr and other Yahoo assets in a massive $4.48 billion deal. Rumors started back in 2015 that Flickr was for sale, and now the day has come that this is a reality for its users.
There is something amiss with the photo above. I’m not talking about the missing teeth on the left -- that’s the correct photo. The problem is the photo on the right. Surely we have lost the plot when we start Photoshopping an 8-year-old’s gappy grin.
Believe it or not, there was a time when photo sharing was a lot slower than in the age of digital photography, smartphone cameras, Instagram, and Snapchat. In the mid-1900s, instantaneously capturing and sharing photos online was unheard of. Then in 1997, the first camera phone was born.
Photos take up a lot of storage space. That’s just something that us photographers have to deal with. That said, there’s no reason to waste space on our computers. So here's a tip: deleting old, unneeded Lightroom data can clear up a ton of space.
As previously reported during its initial testing phase, Instagram has rolled out a new feature which allows you to archive and hide photos from your feed.
Fashion and portrait photographer Jeff Rojas walks us through his beauty photography workflow in this 6-minute video, explaining what he does on set and why he does it.
Did you know that there are lots of hidden Lightroom shortcuts? Some of the app’s most useful shortcuts are tucked away in places you might never look. As a result you may be unaware of them until someone points them out to you. Here are 14 you might want to know.
It's always fascinating when comparisons are made between modern day cities and their days gone by. In this split-screen comparison by The New Yorker, footage from the 1930s in New York has been recreated to reflect the modern day reality.
Aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite, the MODIS captures imagery of the Earth’s water bodies. On May 29, it captured the data used to create this mesmerising image of phytoplankton blooming in the Black Sea.
For her project titled "Nebula," Spanish photographer Jacqueline Roberts shot portraits of youth in the limbo period between childhood and adolescence using the wet plate collodion process from the mid- to late-1800s. The resulting photos are haunting in their appearance.
Have you ever found yourself sitting and watching someone browsing through their travel snaps, flitting between endless folders on their computer? No one likes looking at someone else's holiday snaps, but Caroline Buttet wants to change that with her interactive globe project.
Can’t get enough of yourself? Here’s a 10-minute video from Peter McKinnon in which he shows how to create clones of yourself in photos using Photoshop and in videos using Premiere Pro.
Want to place an off-camera flash where stands and assistants can't go? Try mounting it to a drone. That's what Chinese photographer Fuyan Liu does to light difficult portraits in extreme situations.
A new set of filters for iPhone cameras look like they might be the next best thing in the world of phone camera add-ons. Cinematic-style films and photos are just a clip-on attachment away with this offering from SANDMARC.
Sony’s flagship a9 camera is the first full-frame mirrorless that can really compete with DSLRs when it comes to overall speed. This 30-minute comparison from Max Yuryev and pro sports photographer Paul Nelson pits Sony’s camera against the Nikon D5 under a variety of conditions.
Here's a strange story that shows the power of Internet crowdsourcing in doing unusual reverse image searches. It all started with a blurry, seemingly questionable photo seen on a smartphone in the hands of a politician in the UK Parliament.
Best Buy already does price matching with Amazon, but it'll soon be launching another weapon in its fight against the giant online retailer: a try-before-you-buy program for electronics. For photographers, this will mean you'll have the opportunity to rent camera equipment before you buy it.
As a photographer you're probably quite a creative person, and no doubt you are therefore critical of your own work. The 'inner critic' is that voice in your head, badgering you and questioning your decisions behind the camera. Canon Australia conducted an experiment to show the effect your inner critic can have when you allow it to take hold.
Blend Modes in Photoshop are simple at a glance, but it’s easy to forget exactly how each of the 27 modes work. This 10-minute video from Blake Rudis of f64 Academy goes in to detail on Luminosity and Color, which are both very useful for photo editing.
Sony recently released firmware v.4.0 for its a7S II and a7R II mirrorless cameras. The announcement that this firmware version “Improves image quality when Long Exposure NR setting is off” raised hopes for many photographers that Sony had at last addressed the issues caused by their automatic smoothing of all exposures of 4 seconds or longer, sometimes referred to as the "Star Eater" effect because of the way that it removes stars in astrophotography images.
Photo artist Erik Johansson was commissioned by Clinea, a Swiss company leading in the field of psychiatry and psychotherapy, to create something a little different. Johansson shot the images in Prague and Austria this year, creating beautiful photo manipulations that capture the essence of such a company.
Good news for iPhone and iPad users who are running low on storage space: Apple’s upcoming iOS 11 update will bring more efficient compression technology that the company estimates will save users up to 50% on storage needs.
Here's an inspiring video by Mango Street about one of the most important things you can learn to do as a photographer, which is storytelling. In addition to organically capturing moments as they happen, you can also conceptualize and execute an idea that inspires you, and Rachel and Daniel show how it's done in the 5.5-minute video above.
Camtraptions, the brainchild of wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas, has released the latest infrared motion sensor in its line-up. Used for wildlife camera trapping, these sensors activate a camera should an animal move past it.
My name is Mustafa Turgut, and I'm a professional photographer based in Istanbul, Turkey. One of my photos was published on the cover of the China edition of National Geographic Traveler magazine in November 2011... and I was never paid for it.
After the highly anticipated Sony a9 began landing in the hands of photographers, there were some reports of the camera displaying its overheating indicator icon after short periods of use in ordinary environments. Israeli photographer Senya Alman came up with a clever way of keeping his own Sony camera cool: he built it a little hot shoe cover for portable shade.
If you're taking your light stands outside, then you'll probably be using sandbags to weigh them down. But they're clumsy, take up a lot of space, and can be messy if punctured accidentally. StandDaddy offers a new, innovative way to stop stands from blowing over in a compact, easy-to-use form.
I've been shooting tintypes for almost six years now and love to push the boundaries of what is possible with this slow and difficult photographic process. Taking a tintype from the air was an idea that, years ago, I had shelved as the technology wasn't there yet. Drones were pretty scarce and the ones I had seen were extremely limited in payload and stability. But this spring I decided to revisit the idea.
Nestled away in some of Europe's most culture-rich cities are libraries that have stood the test of time. They are filled from floor to ceiling with books of all sorts, but the architecture of these buildings often speaks volumes about the time periods they were built in.
When Kevin Scruggs's daughter Mackenzie started first grade 12 years ago, he decided to pull out his camera and shoot a short interview with the 6-year-old. He then did the same thing on her first day of school for the next 12 years, and this year he turned all the clips into this touching 3-minute video wishing Mackenzie a happy graduation from high school.
There is an extremely talented landscape photographer called Thomas Heaton whose YouTube videos I find very instructive and entertaining. Recently he featured a new product he was sent to try out: the Loupedeck, a physical console that lets you control Lightroom (the main software I use to sort, catalog and edit my photographs).
Photographer Karen Jerzyk turned abandoned spaces into dark fairy tales after the death of her father. After getting into trouble with that series, she created Colors, a series of fantasy scenes photographed in rooms dominated by a single color.
There are few things in life more frustrating than tangled cords and rope, and you may run into both during a photo shoot. In under 5 minutes, this video from PremiumBeat will teach you how to properly wrap your cables to keep them tidy and save time.
Watching old family photographs fading away in treasured photo albums is a sad reality. However, bringing the digital age to these old film photographs can deliver them back to life. Colorizing old black and white photos can immediately transform an aged, washed-out capture into an image full of realism.
Episode 184 of the PetaPixel Photography Podcast.
Download MP3 - Subscribe via iTunes, Google Play, email or RSS!
Featured: VR/AR expert, author and futurist, Robert Scoble
VSCO has just announced that it's releasing its popular mobile app photo filters on desktop. The filters are packaged in a pack called VSCO Mobile Presets 01 (MP1).
A little while back, I was working for a small local newspaper outside of Houston, Texas. I was working on a series about adrenaline junkies around the area. One article I really wanted to write was about skydiving at Spaceland Houston.