Your Photo’s Background Can Matter Just As Much As the Subject
Although we think a lot about a photo's subject and its sharpness, what's happening elsewhere in the photo is critical to its success.
Although we think a lot about a photo's subject and its sharpness, what's happening elsewhere in the photo is critical to its success.
Photography can be an expensive pastime. However, you can launch yourself into photography without breaking the bank.
I’ve looked at thousands of black and white photographs over the years -- both my own and those of others -- and I’ve noticed something that nobody talks about enough.
I still can’t believe it: 15 years of being addicted to capturing the night sky. Did you know this addiction all started with my first bear encounter?
Your photos have meaning intrinsically linked to your own and your viewers' personalities and subjectivities. Understanding how that works helps us to break free from bland, mundane images and create something more compelling.
Whether you are an exhibitor or a visitor at a Camera trade fair, there are important things you should know before you go.
The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA), and PetaPixel are hosting a new free, bi-weekly town hall series called Creative Focus to address how AI is changing the photography industry.
When we decide whether a photo is good or not, we apply subconsciously a set of principles that make the image appealing. Understanding those helps us better grasp why some photos work better than others.
Most commonly, blurry images are caused by either poor focus or the wrong shutter speed. Here is why that is so and what you can do about it.
There's more to running a successful professional photography business than just taking good pictures. True success lies in how effectively you run your business.
Many photographers head out with their cameras expecting to get sharp photos. Yet when they load them onto their computer, they are disappointed to find that part of, or all of, the photos are blurred.
Bird photography is one of the most rewarding and yet challenging genres of photography. Here are some tips for better avian photos, along with why photographing birds is good for you.
In landscape photography, we usually want to capture either the grandeur or the subtlety of the natural world, and sometimes both at once. It's the light that dictates the scene's atmosphere, and planning for it is all-important.
Bird photography demands technical skill, patience, and respect for wildlife. However, the rewards of capturing their grace, power, and beauty in their natural environment make the challenge worthwhile.
Usually, we photographers are looking at new things that have come on the market. However, historically, some fabulous books were published that are still full of incredible information.
Just walking out with your camera and hoping for the best reduces the chances of getting good photos. With a little forethought and the right tools, however, you can take fabulous shots. Landscape photography requires planning.
Discover how and why controlling color is essential in photography.
Hipcamp has introduced a new 2026 California Superbloom Forecast, an interactive tool designed to help travelers plan spring camping trips around the state’s highly anticipated wildflower season.
Lens makers Funleader and Mr. Ding have teamed up again to deliver a new Contax G to Leica M Conversion Kit, this time for the legendary Contax 28mm f/2.8 Zeiss Biogon T* lens.
Photography has everything to do with light. Therefore, the more we know how it behaves and interacts with our equipment, the greater the chance of getting a successful photo.
Landscape photography is arguably one of the most popular genres. However, it comes with one of the biggest challenges that you may never overcome.
The secret to a good photograph lies in your eye for composition and in how you see light interacting with both the world and your camera. In this, the first of a series of articles on light, we look at how its interactions with subjects can affect the feel of our photos.
As technology has advanced, so too has noise control. Here's the basic information about why noise appears in your photos and how to deal with it.
What if creating a truly unique landscape photograph isn’t about finding somewhere no one has ever stood, nor simply revisiting the places everyone knows, but about noticing the extraordinary in both?
Abstract photography is one of those things that you either love or hate. Either way, it’s a genre worth dabbling in, as you can learn a lot about your camera from it.
There’s more to photographing the sea than many people realize. Here are some handy techniques for safely photographing one of the most exciting and evocative subjects on our planet.
Photography has never been more accessible, yet truly distinctive images feel harder to come by than ever. With social media reinforcing familiar compositions and popular locations, many photographers find themselves asking how to create work that feels original and fulfilling. This three-part series is designed to explore that question across three genres: wildlife, landscape, and night sky photography. In this first article, the focus is on wildlife and how slowing down, understanding animals on their own terms, and committing to personal projects can help photographers create images that rise above the expected.
Social media was once the backbone of marketing for photography businesses. However, we now have strong reasons to leave it behind and adopt a different approach to photography. Why did my recent behavior change prove this to be true?
When we print, we usually want colors and tones to be as accurate as possible. What appears on the paper should match what is on our screens. There are important steps to achieving that.
Printing is the ultimate step in the photographer’s workflow. Getting to grips with the basics is essential, and there is more to it than meets the eye. In my first article, we discussed the printers and inks. In this second one, we examine the paper.
Photographers often embrace beauty and the sublime, unlike the current trends in other arts that downgrade their importance. There are good arguments for both rejecting and embracing aesthetics in our images.
Do you print your photos? If not, it’s something you should consider because it is much more rewarding than just posting pictures online.
We can quickly acquire tens of thousands of photos. Therefore, managing them effectively is essential. Equally, we are becoming more demanding of our development and editing software. Recently, the most effective way of managing our workflow has changed dramatically, making our lives easier.
For professional photographers, there’s more to it than just composing a photo and exposing it correctly. It's great fun, but any photographer can set up a business and benefit from it.
I often refer to photography as a blend of art and science. However, our cameras' lack of adherence to scientific principles can lead to confusion. Both our photographer ancestors and the camera manufacturers are to blame.
We all want to become more successful at photography, don’t we? Of course, success is a personal thing and can be defined in many ways. If you want that as your New Year’s resolution, there are ways to go about it.
The concept of a time machine was first described by H.G. Wells in his book The Time Machine in the year 1895. That was 57 years after Louis Daguerre invented his photographic technique, the daguerreotype.
An understanding of colors and how they can transform our photography is a skill we photographers must master. Therefore, getting to grips with the strangeness of color is essential for understanding how to take better photos.
Claims made about the golden ratio in nature are often overstated or romanticized. In fact, it is more often a useful model than it is a universal law,
It may be commonplace to you, but your audience members may be unfamiliar with the things in your life. Consequently, to them, your ordinary subjects may seem exotic and unusual. However, there are other good reasons to photograph the commonplace repeatedly.
Originating in the early part of the last century, Gestalt Theory revolutionized the understanding of perception. It emphasizes how humans perceive what they see. So, how can we use it to improve our photography?
Leica counted down the days to Christmas in style, delivering daily videos that showcase "the most special things" in the company's archives. As is tradition, the photographic advent calendar of sorts concluded yesterday, Christmas Eve, and we thought a nice little Christmas present to our passionate readers was a recap of Leica's Christmas countdown.
Learning photography is a never-ending quest. Most of us are hoping to make our photos appealing to our audience. So what follows are five approaches we can employ to help achieve that.
As photographers, we often concentrate on technical perfection and the compositional layout. However, arguably more important than either of those is adding meaning to your photos. It can be challenging, but adding meaning can genuinely elevate your photos to the next tier.
Master winter wildlife photography with expert tips on camera settings, gear, composition, and field strategies to capture stunning images of animals in snowy landscapes.
There have been significant improvements in photographic technology over the last 50 years. Although it helps us get ever-better photographs, there is an essential reason for going back to basics.
The most compelling photos are those that break away from the mundane. Therefore, you can achieve better results by photographing at atypical times of day and weather conditions. Here are some hints for doing that and avoiding some risks.
Depth of field refers to how much of the picture is sharply in focus. A skill you should hone is precision, because it can make an enormous difference to the success of your photos.
Digital photography is at a disadvantage when it comes to creativity, I argue; at least when compared to painting, drawing, sculpture, or music. However, there are lessons from history you can apply to overcome the hindrances we face and learn ways to help us grow creatively.
There are different types of color contrast, and how we use them radically changes the look and feel of our photographs. An often-overlooked aspect of photography, the various types of contrast play an essential role in creating our images. What are the different types, and how can we use them to improve our pictures?