clever

Forget Clouds: Man Photographs Cheetos That Look Like Things

Have you ever looked up and noticed that a particular cloud looks like a face, a dog, a ship, or some other object? It's a psychological phenomenon known as pareidolia, where the human brain takes randomness and tries to turn it into something significant and known.

Andy Huot's project Cheese Curl Art revolves around pareidolia, but instead of spotting things in clouds, Huot photographs Cheetos. Recognize the Cheeto above? The photographer captioned it, "Sasquatch."

Clever Trick: Document the Exact Lighting Setup of a Photo Using a Christmas Bulb

When capturing a photograph, something many of us meticulously try to account for is the lighting -- more specifically, how much light is coming from what sources.

Using ratios, a bit of rough math and a pen & paper, you could write it down. But sometimes numbers don’t directly translate into results. Here with an ingenious way to properly capture the lighting in a scene is Felix Kunze and Sue Bryce.

10 Cheap & Clever Tricks for Getting More Out of Your Mobile Photography

If you’re looking to get more out of your smartphone’s camera with minimal financial investment, look no further. Kai and the DRTV team have created a short little video that goes over ten cheap, clever tricks that'll help you get the most of your mobile photography.

Kai specifically uses an iPhone throughout the video, but a number of these tricks can be used on any mobile device.

Clever Photo Series Imagines the Everyday Life of an Earthbound Astronaut

Say you're a space enthusiast; and say you find yourself bidding on an old Russian high altitude spacesuit; and then, say you win that auction. What would you, as a skilled photographer with a brand new, awesome prop on hand, do with it?

We can't speak for you, but we can show you what photographer Tim Dodd did, and it's just plain fun.

Slices of Life: Commuters Framed by the ‘Gap’ Found in Subway Stations

Framing passersby with light and shadows is a pretty common technique in street photography, and one that we've featured a number of times in the past.

Singapore-based photographer Weilun Chong frames his subjects with something that's a little more concrete -- literally. His "Please Mind the Gap" project features portraits of subway commuters framed in the gaps they're told to mind.

Star Wars-themed Wedding Photo Shows Newlyweds Battling the Empire

Creative, imagination-filled wedding photographs are starting to become quite trendy -- at least online. Earlier this year, we shared viral photos of bridal parties running for their lives from a T-Rex and from Star Wars Imperial Walkers.

Chicago-based wedding photographer Steven Kowalski also joined in on the fun, creating the epic Star Wars-themed photograph above at a wedding earlier this month.

212 Instagrammers Join Forces to Create Stop-Motion Car Video

Never underestimate the power of 212 Instagrammers. Now that might seem like a strange thing to say, but vehicle manufacturer Lexus quite literally put over 200 mobile-phone-toting-picture-takers on a lot with a 1,400-foot track and let them go to town on the 2014 Lexus IS F SPORT -- a vehicle we all would probably like to see sitting outside our front doors.

Engagement Photos in the Style of Parody Movie Posters

When planning their engagement photographs, photographer Joshua Watson and his then-fiancee Rachel wanted to announce their engagement and invite family and friends to their wedding in a creative way. Living in La Mirada, California, just 30 minutes away from Hollywood, the couple settled on the concept of movie posters.

Flickr Storage Hack

How to Use Flickr’s 1TB of Free Space to Store More Than Pictures

With the availability of a whopping 1TB of storage space now available to users on Flickr, it wasn't long before someone out there found other ways to put 1TB of storage space to good use. That is to say, the uploading of files other than images.

That's just what Redditor rlaw68 has done, allowing the user to upload packaged files by essentially tricking the Flickr servers into thinking you're merely uploading an image. The process involves putting two files in one folder, a GIF image (though some users have been able to do this with other image file extensions) and an archive file (such as a .zip or .rar), followed by combining them to create what only appears to be an image file.

‘Shopped Pictures of Small House Cats Living as Big Cats in the Wild

For recent Whiskas advertising campaign based around the slogan "Feeding your cat's instincts," photographer George Logan and retoucher Tony Swinney teamed up to create a series of clever photographs showing tiny, domestic house cats engaging in "big cat" activities out in the wild. "Big Cat, Small Cat" is the name of the series.

Photographer Plays With Her Breakfast to Create Imaginative Artworks

Norwegian artist and photographer Ida Skivenes has made a name for herself on Instagram for her playful photographs of food. While most people may attempt to make their food look photogenic and/or appetizing in photographs, Skivenes chooses to go a different route: she views her plate as a canvas and her food as her medium. Skivenes regularly creates artworks on her plates using her foods.

Trailer Shows Pokemon Snap Turned Into a Live-Action Movie

Here's a bit of silly humor as we're winding down the workweek: if you're a photography enthusiast who has fond memories of playing Pokemon Snap during the days of the Nintendo 64, then you might enjoy this humorous fake trailer by Gritty Reboots, which takes popular movies, TV shows, video games and turns them into cinematic trailers.

This one imagines what a live-action Pokemon Snap movie would be like.

Instagram’s Photo Feed Can Be Used as a Silent Film Viewer

Did you know Instagram's mobile app can be used to view movies? Okay, okay, you won't be able to watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster on it, but it's possible to enjoy glimpses of old school silent films.

The clever idea was discovered Canadian advertising agency Cossette to promote the upcoming Toronto Silent Film Festival, and involves using the app's slideshow view to zip through still photos as if they were images in a flipbook.

Using Incognito Flash Lamps to Illuminate Partygoers at a Table

Faced with another birthday party at Chuck E Cheese, a place my daughter loves but low ISOs do not, I decided to get creative. I shot a collection of photos with a set of three Yongnuo YN-560 and YN-560 II flashes with a diffuser cap/"omni bounce" inside of small lampshades placed along the table.

Stop Motion Musical Tours Through a City and a School

Photographer and director Greg Jardin made this creative music video for the song "New York City" by Joey Ramone. It's a stop-motion video that features 115 people (some of them random pedestrians yanked off the street) traveling backwards through various locations in New York City.

A Mind-Bending Reversed Stroll Through Downtown Jerusalem, Shot In One Take

Messe Kopp sent us this awesome and mind-bending video he shot on the streets of Downtown Jerusalem. It it's a backward-is-forward video that shows a man getting up from bed and taking a stroll down a city street, interacting with various people and objects along the way. The entire 2.5-minute video was shot in a single take.

Cute Photographs of a Backyard Squirrel Doing Human Things

Nancy Rose is a guidance counselor who lives on Canada's east coast. When she's not meeting up with people who need counseling, Rose enjoys spending time with a very special group of furry friends: squirrels that call Rose's backyard their home.

In recent times, one particularly dear friend and photo subject has been Mr. Peanuts, a friendly squirrel that lives to the left of Rose's yard, on a neighbor's land. Rose has Mr. Peanuts pose for all kinds of cute scenes by creating scenes with tiny props, and then convincing the little guy to pose using peanuts.

Photographs of Food Paired as Pantone Color Swatches

Minneapolis-based art director David Schwen has been generating a lot of buzz lately for his photo project "Pantone Pairings." Shared through his Instagram feed (@dschwen), the photos are recreations of Pantone color swatch pairings done with complementary foods of the same colors.

Photographer Shoots Old Fire Hydrants and Photoshops Them Into Planets

Photographer Adam Kennedy has a hobby that's pretty unique among the photo projects we've seen. He photographs fire hydrants and Photoshops them into planets. That sounds random, but the results are actually quite neat.

The photograph above shows a before-and-after of what his original photos look like and what he turns the rusty old hydrants into.

Photos of Trash Heaps Made to Look Like Chinese Landscape Paintings

Take a quick look at Chinese photographer Yao Lu's "New Landscapes" photos, and they may look to you like old Chinese paintings of misty mountains, green hills, and choppy brown rivers. Each one even bears a red seal stamp that artists use as signatures on finished works.

Look a little closer, however, and it becomes apparent that something isn't quite right. "Those are some strange looking mountains, you think to yourself." Well, they aren't actually mountains, but rather mounds of garbage covered with green construction netting.

Clever Photos of Men with Hairy Beards

To make the point that Garnier Fructis' hair products are great for both women and men, advertising agency Publicis teamed up with photographers Billy & Hells for a series of creative advertising photographs.

Upon first glance, each of the photographs appear to show a tough guy with a massively long beard. However, look a little closer and you'll realize that things are not what they appeared to be.

Creative Conceptual iPhone Photographs by Instagram Shooter Brock Davis

If you'd like to receive a regular injection of photographic inspiration, you should consider following along with photographer Brock Davis' Instagram feed. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based artist regularly shoots conceptual photos with his iPhone that have the same creative touch as photographs Davis shoots for major commissions.

‘Say Cheese’ Camera Tattoo Turns Girl’s Forearm into an Optical Illusion

We've shared a number of photography-inspired tattoos in the past, but here's a concept we've never seen before. Brunssum, Netherlands-based tattoo artist Helma van der Weide created this optical illusion tattoo for her daughter Lotte van den Acker's forearm. All Lotte needs to do to show off her passion for photography is cover up her eyes with her arm and voila! Instant photography!

Baby Boomer: A Clever Idea for Capturing a Pregnancy in Photos

When Quebec-based photographer Patrice Laroche and Sandra Denis found out they were to become parents, Larouche came up with a funny and clever way of documenting the 9-month journey of pregnancy. The photo project involved paying a visit to a local gas station at various points throughout the process, snapping photos to show exactly how their daughter Justine came into the world.