behindthescenes

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.

Truths Learned After 3 Years in Stock Photography

Landscape photographer Rachel Lerch spent the past three years selling some of her photos through stock agencies. In this 20-minute video, Lerch shares all the truths she has learned about how the story photo industry works and whether it's worth getting into.

Shooting an Action Photo of a Toy Fighter Plane

Have you ever found yourself looking at your children's toys and thought to yourself, "Man that would look great in an image?" Well I have, I do, and I love creating images this way, trying to create a realistic/surreal image which tells a story from using nothing more than a piece of plastic.

Behind the Scenes of a Travel Assignment for the New York Times

What is it like to shoot a travel assignment for a major publication? What’s the process from start to finish? Every publication is a little different but I’ll speak from my experience shooting dozens of assignments for The New York Times travel section throughout Southeast Asia for over a decade.

Shooting Overhead Action Photos of Tennessee Basketball

If you've followed Tennessee basketball, chances are you've seen one of those really cool overhead photos. That top-down, bird's eye view is something you don't see every day, and only very few have access to capturing this unique angle.

How to Save 100,000 Cameras: A Look Inside Camera Rescue

Camera Rescue is a project based in Finland that's working to rescue 100,000 analog cameras by 2020 in order to preserve them for future generations. Photographer Jordan Lockhart of Cameraville recently traveled to Tampere, Finland, and made this 10.5-minute behind-the-scenes video at the organization's ambitious endeavor.

Photographing the Fake Holy Men of Varanasi, India

"Where should we go?" Melissa, my girlfriend, was trying to narrow down what seemed like a mountain of possibilities-places that were worthy of exploration. After a month of repeating that same question a million times, we finally settled on India.

Judging a Photo Contest: My Experience with FOCUS Photo L.A.

It began with an email one morning. The link in it led to the work of one hundred fifty photographers. I had 1,500 images to judge for Focus Photo, a s**t ton of looking to get it right. It wasn’t going to be easy to hold it all in my mind, to remember why I was making the decisions I was making.

Apple’s New iPad Pro Ads Were Shot and Made Entirely on the iPad Pro

Apple recently released a new series of ads for the iPad Pro that shows how the tablet computer opens the doors to new ways of doing things. What's neat is that Apple is "eating its own dog food": as the 2-minute behind-the-scenes video above reveals, the ads were shot, edited, animated, designed, and composed entirely on the iPad Pro.

I Built a Replica Chinese Takeout Restaurant in My Photo Studio

My name is Nicky Hamilton, I’m a photographer from London. In-between commercial work I produce fine art photography, specializing in cinematic set builds, which unlike my commercial work is done solo, the set design, build, photography, styling, and retouching. It started this way as a means to an end but then blossomed to become a meditative process that’s creatively very fulfilling for me.

How This Pro Instagram Star Earns Up to $100K Climbing Peaks Full-Time

The rise of Instagram in our culture has spawned a generation of professional Instagrammers who make a living from broadcasting (often sponsored) photos to their massive followings. Meghan Young is one such Instagrammer, and this 12-minute feature by Bloomberg gives us a look into what her life and career are like.

Behind the Scenes of a Year’s Worth of Street Photography

I've been using some version of "street" photography as practice and exercise for all areas of my photography since I started taking it seriously in 2015, but I've never been as focused and regimented about honing my approach to street photography every day as I have been since the start of 2018, when I decided to give myself an entire year to "make it" as a photographer.

Building an Off-Camera Flash Portrait: A Step-by-Step Look

When it comes to online educational content, there aren’t many photographers out there willing to share their mistakes when trying to create a photo. I think it’s fair to say that there are easily far more who only share their best work online and for good reason; as educators, you want to create an image of a photographer who makes little to no mistakes at all.

Creating a UFO Abduction Photo on a Tabletop

I love the theme of science fiction, so I always have these ideas about flying UFOs and houses in the middle of nowhere that aliens show an interest in as they try to take over a new planet.

Making a Conceptual Photo of the Man Who Controls Day and Night

Swedish photographer and retoucher Erik Johansson has created a new conceptual photo titled "Daybreaker," which shows the man in charge of controlling the transitions between day and night. Johansson is also sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how he put both day and night into one photo.

Making a Splash in Toy Photography

As a toy photographer I am constantly experimenting with new techniques and effects -- primarily practical effects, but I won't hesitate to dive into some digital effects if it helps me tell a story and create the strongest image possible. Some of my more popular images include real liquid splashes, so I thought I'd share some of those images here.

Creating a Century of Portraits in My Living Room

For the last 12 months, I have been working on a personal photo project. The goal of this project was to recreate a portrait from every decade from the 1920s until now. Each picture would highlight the candid life of someone who was living in that era versus what they were really feeling inside. I called this project a "Century of Portraits."

What if He Falls? Shooting the First Free Solo of El Capitan

How do you go about shooting a subject when you know they could die in a split second while your camera is pointed at them? That's the reality filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi faced while creating their documentary Free Solo. The duo followed climber Alex Honnold during his attempt to be the first human to ever climb the 3,000ft El Capitan in Yosemite without safety equipment.

Creating a Photo of Nail Polish Bottles in a Swirling Splash

For a recent project, I was tasked with creating hero images for a cosmetic brand. They commissioned me to work on several different shots for a range of nail polishes they are looking to market. I was put in charge of coming up with the creative angle and had the freedom to explore and execute the final result. The client was open to any suggestions or ideas, and I had fun putting it all together.