We've published a number of posts in the past on how you can recover photos that were accidentally deleted from your computer or memory card. But what about when you delete a photo and expect it to actually be gone forever? …
As great as infrared photography can be, for most of us, it’s an enigma that is often difficult to nail down since we’re capturing that which we can’t see with our eyes. However, just because we can’t actually see it, doesn’t mean we can’t teach our brain to visualize what the outcome will be when we snap the shutter.
If you ever find yourself as close to a wild bear as Drew Hamilton is in the video above, you're probably a little too close. Hamilton, a photographer and technician with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, captured the amazing footage while sitting with his camera on the bank of the McNeil River in Alaska. The bear simply strolled up and took a breather just several feet away from where Hamilton was sitting and snapping.
We've told you about some pretty fast lenses in the past -- from the legendary Zeiss 50mm f/0.7 lenses made for NASA and used by Stanley Kubrick to film a candle light scene, to X-Ray lenses that you can try to Frankenstein onto your camera body for some strange soft-focus results.
Ian Norman, the astrophotographer behind Lonely Speck, is a good friend of the blog and an incredibly generous photographers when it comes to sharing his years worth of expertise with the world.
Photographer Miguel Quiles recently created this quick, informative behind-the-scenes look at how he shot an impressive set of fitness photos using just three lights in a fairly small studio setup.
I’ll admit, there is a lot to learn if you’re hoping to start selling art in galleries. How do you approach a gallery, and then if you do finally get a meeting, what do you say? What are they even looking for? When they ask to see your portfolio, what does that even look like? Do you price your work or does the gallery price your work? How much commission is the normal amount for a gallery to take? …
We’ve shared an interview with him and even featured a short behind-the-scenes video of him explaining his process a bit. But Nikon recently released a comprehensive collection of videos that will tell you just about everything you might want to know about Clark Little and his beautiful big wave photography.
When it comes to correcting the distortion on fisheye lenses, most of us use the fairly standard rectilinear methods built into Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw. And while that gets the job done decently well, there’s a way to go about it that will leave you with a lot less noticeable distortion and more of your image still intact.
If you've never thought to find out why aperture works the way it does, you should definitely check out this simple explanation of optics, aperture and pinholes by MinutePhysics.
Sports Illustrated Director of Photography Brad Smith recently sat down with A.A. Productions to share a few tips and suggestions on how freelance photographers can more effectively approach photo editors in hopes of securing work.
Ever wondered what's actually going on inside your camera when you take your ISO from 400, to 800, to`1,600 and so on? If you'd like to find out, this straight-forward explanation by Ian Gibbons of PanvistaProductions from 2012 does a great job of explaining the electronics behind the exposure.
Ted Forbes of The Art of Photography is back at it again, taking an in-depth look at the life and work of another inspirational and iconic figure in the world of photography. This time, the subject is French photographer Robert Doisneau.
Jerry Ghionis is a man who knows how to make the most of almost any environment. Whether he’s in a proper studio setup or is trying to make the most of one of his ‘MacGyvered’ setups, he always seems to find a way to nail the lighting and produce an extraordinary photograph.
I had a wonderful opportunity today in that I got to enjoy the company of Pulitzer Prize-winner photojournalist David Turnley in the setting of my very own classroom. He was very personable, very intelligent, and even made us all stand up and touch each other's faces to make the point of what photojournalists, street photographers, and portrait photographers do: we create a more intimate viewpoint into someones life that we typically (and this especially true for us mid-westerners) don't …
There is no 'right' way to go about street photography. There's the laid-back, voyeuristic style, controversial in-your-face methods, and more personal relationship-building approaches.
Well-known photographer and blogger Steve Huff prefers the last of these. Rather than trying to capture a candid image or the 'decisive moment,' Huff takes a more humanistic approach by emphasizing making a connection and not just a picture.
One of the most interesting photographic mysteries of the 20th century is the story of the ‘Mexican Suitcase’ -- something that is neither a suitcase, nor Mexican. What it is, is three boxes of roughly 4,500 negatives that depicted the Spanish Civil War, and were lost for more than 50 years.
Today David Lama is one of the most successful professional climbers in Europe. But at age 19, his climbing career almost ended before it even began.
Gear does not make the photographer, allow me to state that for the record before we dive in here. A talented artist can make an image with whatever falls into their palm, but for those of us who have the luxury of choice, be it the pocket sized Ricoh dangling from Moriyama’s wrist, or Crewdson’s cherrywood 8×10, a powerful image is about the framing of a moment, the machine it is seen through when chosen properly, serves to simplify and streamline the process.
In a similar vein as the comprehensive composition video we shared with you yesterday, this 2012 lecture by photographer Adam Marelli uses classical art to show how we as photographers face the exact same challenges in lighting and composition today as they did centuries ago.
The basic rules of composition apply to almost every visual art there is, be it photography, painting or graphic design. Whether it’s the rule of thirds or the rule of triangles, the principles overlap, leaving the educational resources for each respective art form useful across the board, not tied down to one specific field.
It’s not news to most of us that the majority of food photography doesn't feature the actual food you'll receive in the establishment. Or if it does, it features a lot more besides.
Well known headshot photographer Peter Hurley has teamed up with respected psychologist Anna Rowley to develop a way for people to overcome their fear of being in front of a camera.
Hindsight is always 20/20, which is why if you’re a photography student or about to launch your photo business, you should turn to those who have already completed the right of passage for a little first-hand, grade-A advice on how to go about the whole thing.
Understanding your legal rights as a photographer can often be confusing and overwhelming. From copyright infringement to fair use to DMCA, there are a number of legal concepts that every photographer should be familiar with. Here are eight important legal cases that are illustrative of these concepts and the importance of registering your copyright.
Online book marketplace AbeBooks -- probably the first link you'll see if you try to search for a rare, signed or early edition of your favorite novel or photo book -- has a list of the 10 most collectable photography books of all time. You can probably guess two or three of them, but do you think you know them all?
Fans of vintage cameras, listen up, because we're run across a wonderful resource that could very easily consume hours upon hours of your time. Sounds good, right? The resource is a French online archive called Collection Appareils, and it contains images and info about some 10,142 cameras made by every manufacturer from Ace to Zion.
Have you ever noticed how, in every photo of an astronaut using camera gear in the International Space Station, there's pretty much never a tripod or monopod or special mount in sight? They're always just handholding this massive camera with a 400mm lens attached.
German news broadcaster Deutsche Welle created this short feature on the history of Leica in light of the 100th year anniversary of the brand's existence. Oskar Barnack created his first functional Leica model back in 1914, and its compact size sparked a revolution in photography.
Photography is powerful because we can place ourselves into the perspective of those we see in an image. Whether it’s street photography, photojournalism or portraiture, we use photography to understand ourselves in relation to people around us.
There are a lot of debates in the world of photography: Nikon Vs. Canon, DSLR Vs. Mirrorless and Full-Frame Vs. Everything Else just to name a few. But one of the battles that doesn't get as much air time probably has more impact on your images than any of the previous three. We're talking about The Rule of Thirds Vs. The Golden Ratio.
Have you ever wondered how those beautiful beer bottle ads in magazines are shot? Product photography is one of the more complicated genres out there, packed full of neat 'tricks of the trade' and lighting techniques. And if you wanna learn a few of them, this beer bottle product photo tutorial is a great place to start.
Whether it’s by necessity or personal decision, sometimes we’re left shooting an image with only a single-light setup. But just because you only have one light, that doesn’t mean you can’t toss in some variety and spice up your image appropriately.
A single pixel color digital camera sounds an awful lot like a camera that captures a single bright red, green or blue dot, but when scientist Ben Greer set out to build his own single pixel camera, that's not what he was creating at all.
All too often, people ask me to put my camera down and join the party. I get that stink eye on many occasions when I plop myself in the corner of a campsite, drag my cooler within reaching distance, and point my camera towards the night sky. Friends wouldn’t notice at first, but then start to realize that they were missing someone around the fire ring. “Where did Nick go?” I could hear people snarkily asking, like I was off doing something more interesting than they were.
Last week we shared an example of beauty retouching that was done by hand in the early 1900s. If you're wondering how this type of retouching was done, check out the contraption above.
Want to see an early example of beauty retouching in photography? Here's one. The side-by-side images above from the early 1930s show what a glamour portrait looked like before and after manual 'Photoshopping.'
Ever since I’ve owned a camera I’ve wanted to take photos of the night sky. When I first got a DSLR camera 5 or so years ago I thought getting decent shots wasn’t very likely with the inexpensive gear I had and it was something best left to the pros. It was only after I became comfortable with the manual mode on my camera that I realized that shooting at night was completely doable.
Here's a simple little GIF that can come in handy the next time you're asked to explain how aperture and depth of field work. Created by Reddit user veedees, it shows exactly how stopping down your lens from f/1.8 all the way to f/16 translates into different depths of field.
Those of you who own long lenses might want to give this five-and-a-half minute video a watch. In it, wildlife and nature photographer Steve Perry breaks down what heat wave distortion is, how it can affect your images, and offers a few tips if you want to ensure your images stay as sharp as possible.
This Nikon D750 Review by Ross Harvey was originally published on his blog, and is being reprinted in full with permission.
This humorous graphic was created by Lee Hutchinson over at Ars Technica in a recent article comparing the iPhone 6 Plus to a Canon DSLR. It suggests that people who are just starting out in photography commonly experience a period of delusion in which they suddenly think they are much greater at photography than they actually are.
I remember seeing the photo above on Flickr once, and having my brain melt slightly from trying to figure out what went wrong.
Ever wonder how the tech packed inside of your new Nikon lens actually works? How does Vibration Reduction provide 4.5 stops of stabilization? And what about the silent motors, how do those work?
In a video released earlier today, Nikon Asia decided to peel away the outer shell of its glass and show you, revealing the technology that makes a Nikkor Lens a Nikkor.
‘Where to Start Chart’ is an infographic designed to help beginner photographers work their way through the settings on their camera. Produced by Adorama TV, the PDF is reminiscent of the "skill trees" found in various role playing video games, but instead of having spells and skills, the tree offers photographic tutorials.
Water droplets can make for some beautiful high-speed photography, but how do photographers manage to capture such precise moments? And what if you add even more elements to the equation, such as shooting a tiny pellet through the drop as it reaches its peak? …
Graduated ND (neutral density) filters have been a staple of landscape photography for a long time now, but if you've never taken the time to learn how these simple but useful tools work, this solid video guide will run you through the basics and then some.
As beneficial as the more automated style of photography can be at times, nothing quite compares to the control and connection you feel when shooting fully manual. This, however, is not always an easy task... especially when just starting out.
If you enjoy gazing up at the heavens and being in awe of how expansive the universe is, then here's a time-lapse project you have to check out. It's a beautiful time-lapse of the Milky Way by Greek photographer Konstantinos Vasilakakos (be sure to watch it in high definition).
One of the best kept secrets within the fashion and beauty photography is the way to obtain absolutely perfect and flawless skin colors, brightness and texture. That’s an art, absolutely, and often a quite technical challenge.
