Ideas

A huge part of my photo practice is not taking photos. Photography is an inner game. What comes out in our photography is the total expression of who we are, how we think, and what we see.

I have no idea where I first heard this, but it’s extremely true: “the main difference between painting and photography is that the painters need to work hard to put things into their images, whereas photographers have to work hard to take things out of their images.”

Don't have the time or money to travel to picturesque portrait locations? There's like spots for nice portraits in your own backyard. Photographers Tajreen Hedayet and Chloe V. of Tajreen&Co made this short, sweet, and informative 2-minute video on 4 portrait locations you can find in any neighborhood.

Looking to organize your ever-growing collection of cameras, lenses, and accessories? Here's a short and sweet video in which Ted Forbes of The Art of Photography shares 6 DIY storage hacks in just 90 seconds.

Photographer Eric Floberg made this 5-minute video tutorial on the subject of composing portraits.

Sometimes the strangest or most mundane locations can make for compelling portrait environments. Mango Street made this short and sweet video in which it presents 9 portrait location suggestions in just 90 seconds.

Intimidated by nighttime photography? Here's an inspiring 11-minute video from photographer Peter McKinnon on how you can take better photos of cities at night.

If you're looking for a wacky idea for portrait photos, check out this 4.5-minute video by COOPH. It's a collection of 8 wacky things you can do with things that you can mostly find around a home.

If your job is keeping you busy and away from dedicated street photography, you may still be able to exercise your creative muscles during your trip to and from the office. Here's a 2-minute video by photographer Alan Ruic with a handful of street photos you can take while commuting to work.

Here's a 5-minute video by photographer Bill Lawson that shares 7 different DIY gobos (go-betweens) that you can use to introduce creative shadows to your portrait photos.

There is an almost endless supply of lighting modifiers available on the market right now, some are cheap and some of the better ones are certainly a lot more expensive. But does cost directly relate to quality? Well, a lot of the time yes it does if you're referring to build quality.

What if your house burned down? Have you still “made it” as a photographer?

I recently shot a series of double exposure photos of the band I Don’t Know How But They Found Me at The Knitting Factory, and they've received a great response. So, I thought it would be worth explaining how I took them!

Want to spice up your photography and try some unorthodox methods for getting unusual photos? This 1-minute video may be the inspiration you need. Photographer Dan Watson runs through 5 neat accessories that will let you "hack" your way to creative photos.

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 Lighting Channel made this rapid-fire 1-minute video with examples of 10 different ways you can light a face to create different moods and themes, from "horror" to "1920s beauty."

Ready for some rapid-fire DIY tips? A team of French photographers who goes by the moniker "Shootr" has put together a simple photo hacks video that offers a few creative ideas for your next portrait shoot.

Need a home studio for some product photography? COOPH has some great ideas for you. In this inspirational little video, the magazine shows you how to build a DIY photography studio at home using mostly household items.

Hi, everyone. My name is Giannis Papapostolou, and I’m an amateur photographer based in Greece. Photography is a big part of my life. However, about a year ago, I had an accident.

After sharing his 8 camera hacks in 90 seconds, Toronto-based photographer Peter McKinnon is back again with another helpful video for beginners. In the 6-minute one above, he shares 5 basic tips that can help you instantly improve your photos.

I feel that there's a word missing from our vocabulary, and this essay is the culmination of an effort to find such a word, to define it usefully, and to work through some of what it might mean.

We've all seen photographs before of light trails through various forms of light painting—cars passing by, flashlights, pixelsticks, wool spinning, etc. But have you ever seen someone use fire inside a gym to create light trails?

Let's start the week on a creative note. Our friends at COOPH have released a fun new video packed full of tips and ideas that will help you break out of that creative rut and flex your instant photography muscle.

Here's an inspiring video in which renowned adventure photographer Cory Richards discusses why he believes vulnerability is the key to making great art.

Here's a clever idea: if you have unwanted 35mm film canisters lying around, you can turn them into simple cases for storing and organizing your SD cards.

In order to tell you this crazy story, we have to go back to May 2015. As you may have read, my brand new $1,600 L lens fell to the ground after I got it out of my backpack. The glass didn’t have any scratches, however, the focus was completely broken and all photos turned out blurry. Although it was a huge shock at first, I wanted to turn this moment around and “develop the negatives”. I quickly fell in love with this broken look and created a set about broken characters with a broken lens by a former broken soul called “Broken: Amsterdam”.

Our buddies over at COOPH got their hands on the new Leica X-U waterproof camera and created this video with 8 photo ideas you can do when you have a rugged camera that can take a beating and a dip.

My name is Nick Fancher and I am a Columbus, Ohio-based commercial and portrait photographer. I specialize in lighting -- specifically with the use of small flash in unconventional locations.

My goal is to show that you can often create high-quality photos without using a conventional studio... and while using minimal, affordable gear. You just need to learn to make the most out of your environment!