Ideas

AMMO: Cross Section Photos of Bullets

In October of 2012, LA-based photographer Sabine Pearlman found herself ensconced in a Swiss WWII bunker photographing 900 different "specimens" of cross sectioned ammunition. Her resulting photo series, AMMO, shows the beauty and craftsmanship that went into creating these destructive little pieces of engineering.

Creative Stop Motion Instagram Skit Made from 1,600 Photos

Instagram announced the ability to shoot video earlier today, but before they did, two friends embarked on a project to make the best video they could while adhering to Instagram's previous photo-only limitations. The result was a 1,600 photo stop motion video dubbed Instagrammimation that has gotten a lot of praise from viewers.

Abstract Photos Created by Repeating Everyday Household Items

To imitate photographer Nick Albertson's work, you'll need a camera, household items purchased in bulk, and an eye for the beautiful and abstract. Take a look at Albertson's project titled "Work in Progress," and you'll find photographs of things such as rubber bands, straws, and napkins. They don't look like your everyday objects, though: Albertson turns them into works of art by carefully arranging them into repeating patterns.

Beautiful Studio Portraits of Birds in Flight

Photographer Paul Nelson spends the majority of his time shooting commercial work for big name clients like MAC Cosmetics or Target. But when the flow of work began to slow to a trickle over the past couple of years, he embarked on a personal project that he hoped would remind him why he loved photography.

Photographer Gives Greek Sculptures a Hipster Makeover Using Photoshop

The term "hipster" is only decades old (at most) and has only become widely used over the past half decade, but what if the concept had existed in days of old? That's the idea behind photographer Leo Caillard's project, "Hipster in Stone." Combining his photography and Photoshoppin' skills, Caillard imagines what it would be like if ancient Greek sculpture subjects were hipsters.

Long Exposure Engagement Photos Shot Under the Starry Night Sky

Long exposure photographs of stars and romantic engagement photographs aren't often found together, but that's the fusion wedding photography couple Robert Paetz and Felicia Wong have been dabbling with as of late. The duo takes their clients out into natural landscapes away from light-polluted cities and photographs them under the night sky. They call the resulting photos, "astro wedding photography."

Creating an Indoor Blizzard for Portraits with Falling Snow

I wanted to create a dramatic portrait series of “arctic explorers” that appeared to be taken outside in a blizzard. The concept for this shoot was something I’ve been mulling over for quite awhile, but never had the proper platform to pull it off. 


Photographer Challenges Social Norms by Touching Strangers in New York City

NYC-based photographer Joy Mckinney has spent most of her life conforming to the norms she believed to be "socially correct." Her latest series, The Guardian, is about breaking through those norms and her own socially guarded personality in order to interact with strangers on the streets of New York in a real and meaningful way.

Wedding Party Running from Imperial AT-AT Walkers

It appears that "wedding party running from _____" is at risk of becoming a meme among wedding photographers. After seeing that photo of a wedding party running from a T-Rex that went viral last month, photographers Danielle and Tony Lombardo of Little Blue Lemon decided to do their own remix.

The Glory of Twixtor: Unorthodox Uses of Faux Slow-Mo

Have you ever wanted to make the video you shot on your DSLR look like it's playing at 1000fps, or make people warp in and out of your time lapse, on perhaps contort faces like putty? Then come explore the glory that is Twixtor. If you're not already familiar with the software plug-in created by RE:Vision Effects then I highly suggest you check out the information below, study up, and dive in.

Baby Mugging: Using Forced Perspective to Photograph Your Baby ‘Inside’ a Cup

Photo memes don't have much of a shelf life these days. Case in point: the cat beard meme that we shared with you just a couple of weeks ago has already been replaced by the next photo fad to sweep the Instagram nation. This one's called Baby Mugging, and it involves using forced perspective photography to make it look like your baby or toddler is hanging out inside your coffee mug.

Adobe Pranks Pedestrians at a Bus Stop with Real-Time Photoshopping

Adobe recently came up with a clever and funny way of promoting its Adobe Creative Day event that'll be held next week. The company visited a bus stop in Sweden and pranked people by Photoshopping them in real time into a digital movie poster advertisement displayed next to the bench. The whole thing was documented with hidden cameras and shared in the video above.

How an Instagram Hashtag is Helping to Clean up the Environment

Starting a global movement using a photography app is no small task, but that's what Jeff Kirschner has done this last year. Using the hashtag #litterati, he's managed to start a world-wide Instagram campaign that is helping to stop pollution and clean up the environment one piece of trash at a time.

Studio Sets Up a Slow-Mo Photo Booth at a Mixer, Gets Hilarious Results

Here's a little bit of entertainment and humor for your Tuesday afternoon. At a recent mixer they hosted for creative professionals in the ad industry, St. Louis, Missouri-based Bruton Stroube Studios set up a slow motion photo booth and let the party-goers go at it. The above video is a compilation of some of the coolest shots.

5 Unique Ways to Use Your GoPro

The advent of the GoPro has brought about a real surge in adventure and sports photography/videos. Suddenly amateurs have been able to capture some of their pro-level tricks and treks and share them with their friends and the Internet.

BTS: Shooting James Cameron in a Water Tank for the Cover of National Geographic

The June cover of National Geographic features a photo of explorer and director James Cameron comfortably posing underwater in front of what looks to be his submarine. Obviously a composite (and a bit of a deviation from Nat Geo's typical style) photographer Marco Grob uses the above behind the scenes video to explain both the how and the why behind this awesome photo shoot.

Photographer Creates Portraits of Family Members by Shooting Possessions

How much can you learn about a person by simply looking at things he or she has owned in their life? This question was explored a couple of years ago in a project that documented the things people would save from a burning house, and it's also the question behind photographer Camilla Catrambone's project titled, "Portraits of My Family."

Photos Depicting the Slow Decay of a City Made of Bread

In 2009, Swedish artist Johanna Mårtensson read an article that described how well the Earth would do if humans simply ceased to exist. Within a few centuries, most buildings would be collapsed or collapsing as animals, plants and bacteria re-established the social order in cities once ruled by the curious primate Homo sapien.

Inexpensive ‘Infragram’ Camera Lets You Take a Peek at Photosynthesis

Public Lab, also known as the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science, is all about creating affordable, DIY versions of expensive scientific equipment. In the past, we covered Public Lab's work creating a balloon mapping toolkit that allowed anyone and everyone to take and add user-created weather balloon imagery to Google Earth's repertoire.

Quick and Easy Trick For Adding a Black Background to Your Shots Anywhere

Photographer Glyn Dewis shared this cool little technique that lets you work with a black background even if you don't have an actual backdrop with you. It's a fairly common trick that he refers to as "the invisible black background," and it's a nifty little tip that many photographers may want to keep up their sleeve.

A Look at How Eric Paré Creates His 360º Bullet Time Stop Motion Light Paintings

We've featured the work of Eric Paré, Patrick Rochon and Timecode Lab before. Using a 24 DSLR fully circular bullet time rig developed by Rochon, Paré and Timecode put together some really cool light-painting projects. One of these was LightSpin: an art project that captured dancers using an awe-inspiring combination of light painting, bullet time and stop motion.

Photo Recursion Effect with Smartphones in a Circle

When Toronto-based photo enthusiast Alexander Kolomietz had a birthday party recently, he asked his guests to stand in a circle, pull out their smartphones, and simultaneously snap a photo of the LCD screen on the next camera in the circle. Kolomietz then collected the resulting photographs and turned them into the photo recursion effect seen in this video.