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Playing with Macro Photography at the Kitchen Sink

Here's a quick, easy idea for something you can try in your kitchen with a macro lens. Yesterday as I was doing the dishes, the water stream hit an egg cup and bounced up in a concentrated jet, splashing water up all over me.

Failed Experiment: Shooting Wet Plate with a Mamiya 645 and Polaroid Film Back

Photographer Markus Hofstätter is known for pushing the art of wet plate photography in new and exciting ways, but... of course... it doesn't always work out. That's what happened in this video, where Hofstätter tries (and fails) to shoot wet plate photography with autofocus by putting a plate inside a Mamiya 645 AF AFD Polaroid Film Back.

How to Shoot Otherworldly Macro Photos of Soap Bubbles

There are certain subjects in the macro world, which are so fascinating and absorbing that almost every macro photographer will point a camera at them at some point. No matter how many photos you take or see of these subjects, their charm does not seem to wear off.

Infrared Ghouls and Goblins: A Fresh Take on Halloween Photography

A couple of years ago I was shooting Halloween yard scenes in a street photography kind of way when I realized that I wasn't really satisfied with what I was getting. Over the last two decades, Halloween has been transformed into a major U.S. holiday focused on lavish front yard displays that often look boringly the same down street after street.

A Simple Trick for Adding Drama to a Product Photo

Here's a quick tip from talented photographer, filmmaker, and YouTube star Peter McKinnon. In his latest "two-minute Tuesday" video, he showed how adding a simple overlay onto some black foam core can take a basic top-down product shot to the next level.

Photographers Rent a Helicopter to Re-Create the MacOS Big Sur Wallpaper

Photographers and filmmakers Andrew Levitt, Jacob Phillips, and Taylor Gray are back at it with the latest installment of their series in which they re-create Apple's MacOS desktop wallpaper photos. Following the announcement of MacOS Big Sur, the trio immediately set off to see if they could recreate the exact same shot... but it was a bit more challenging than they expected.

This Sunset ‘Levitation’ Photo Was Captured in a Single Shot

Believe it or not, the "levitation" photo above isn't a multi-shot composite. Some lighting equipment was removed from the edge of the frame, but the main image of the woman "floating" above the water is actually a single exposure. It simply took some patience to capture it just right in-camera.

How I Shoot Insect Macro Photography in My Home Studio

Insects and other animals have fascinated me since I was a small child. I remember well how I used to pick them up and simply stare at them in wonder for hours. The concept of photographing insects indoors had been on my mind for years, even when photography and playing with light was a hobby, and long before I considered photography a profession and way of life.

How to Make a Portable DIY Camera Battery Charging Board

The filmmakers over at Threefold have created a DIY battery charging board with a very useful twist: it's portable. And in the video above, they break down exactly how you can build your own version to suit your on-the-go creative needs.

Capturing Both the Crescent Moon and ‘Earthshine’ in One Image

This is something I’ve been wanting to attempt for a while, but the skies have not be clear enough to do so. Iowa skies in fact have been almost constantly cloudy of late – or a least when one wants to shoot the moon.

Wanted: A Panoramic Photo Calculator App for My Phone

I have in mind a program that would be of great assistance to anyone trying to do panoramic pictures. I am confident that someone who understands the math and how to create an app would make short work of it. That is certainly NOT me! I do know it would be quite useful for me and I would happily pay a few bucks for it in the app store. (I use Android!)

Apple Patents iMac Design Made from a Single Piece of Curved Glass

The design of the iMac hasn't changed much since the aluminum unibody version was announced in 2009. They slimmed down the design in 2012, and added a retina display in 2015, and that's about it... but that definitely doesn't mean Apple isn't innovating behind the scenes.

This Guy Installed Doom on a Kodak Digital Camera from 1998

Popular retro tech YouTube channel LGR recently pulled off something pretty awesome, if totally ridiculous. The channel's host Clint Basinger managed to install a working copy of the original video game Doom onto a Kodak digital camera from 1998. Really gives new meaning to the term "point and shoot" camera, doesn't it?

Canon Designed a Lens That Sucks

Canon engineers have designed a lens that quite literally and intentionally sucks. The lens pulls in air, swirls it across the image sensor in the camera body, and then pushes it out in order to get rid of the internal dust that causes nasty dark spots in your photos.

Macro Photography Trick: Create ‘Rainbow Flares’ with a CD

The glorious colors of summer are fading away, and the windy weather makes outdoor macro photography difficult. In other words, it’s the perfect time to take photography inside and stage creative photos with things around the house.

Photographer Turns Symphony Hall into the World’s Largest Darkroom

During this year's STORY conference in Nashville, TN, photographer Blake Wylie did something really cool. He turned a massive symphony hall into what might be the world's largest darkroom so that he could capture and develop a tintype portrait on-stage, in front of an audience of 1,400 people.

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.

Trading Portraits for Backstage Photos with My Favorite Celebrities

I've been fortunate enough to present portrait work to some of my favorite personalities. Initially, I figured it would just be a clever way to use my artwork to meet some of my heroes. A year later, it has turned into an on-going project that has resulted in unique encounters, constant hustle, and endless Photoshop.

The ‘Honest’ Styled Wedding Shoot

Saw an ad for a “Styled (Wedding) Shoots Conference.” For those of you unfamiliar with the styled shoots, it’s where models play fake brides who fake marry models playing fake grooms at a fake wedding filled with fake guests and then cut a wedding cake at a fake styled reception while photographers who have paid to photograph the fake-ness happily snap away at the event and then post all the styled fakery in their portfolio as samples of “their work.”

25 Tips and Ideas for Your Landscape Photos

Although landscape photography can look easy at first, it takes more than a simple point-your-camera-and-photograph kind of action. The purpose of landscape photography is to convey a state of mind and to express something more than just the landscape in front of you.

Shooting a Sunrise Portrait with a Drone-Mounted Flash

This idea had been rolling around in my head for years. I use flashes a lot in my photography. Whether that is a Speedlight on or off camera or in the studio with some big strobes and modifiers. But this is the first time I have ever used an aerial drone-mounted flash.

This LEGO Kit is a Photographer’s Promo Mailer

Every year since 2010, photographer Clint Davis has put together a creative promotional mailer to send out to current and prospective clients. This year he got playful and created a custom LEGO kit promo mailer.

When You Want Romantic Photos, But You Only Have Yourself…

There are a lot of standard and cliché poses used by photographers shooting romantic portraits of couples in love. One of the key ingredients is having two people in the frame. Photographer Malley Victoria of LaGrange, Georgia, recently shot a series of portraits of a guy in the style of a couples photo shoot.

I Turned IKEA Products Into Costumes for a Rembrandt Photo Shoot

I recently shot the 2017 Christmas card photo for Stavanger Foto, the passionate camera store on the west coast of Norway. Being granted full creative freedom in making the card, I went back to the old masters for inspiration.