If you are anything like me, when you go out on a photography shoot, you end up taking many images and lots of different compositions as the light changes, and an inevitable outcome is a number of good shots but no stunners.
It can be very easy to arbitrarily limit oneself by genre; I think the effect this has on the mindset of a photographer can potentially really damage the quality of the work they look to produce.
If you want ideas for getting creative with portrait photography while on a shoestring budget, check out the work of the Mexican photographer Omahi. In addition to sharing his imaginative work, Omahi also shows behind-the-scenes photos of how they're made.
I always wanted to shoot Japan during the winter when it was snowing, and earlier this year I got the chance when I headed to Sapporo—the biggest city in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. This city is seriously underrated for street photography.
Photography offers an escape unlike any other. It allows us to capture moments, create moments, and interpret the worlds we see through a lens. We document, we study, we create art, and for me, this was lifesaving.
One of the great things about our jobs as photographers is that we get asked to do so many diverse things. To me, new and different assignments keep me fresh. Sometimes we get asked to do things that push our limits or are even beyond the bounds of anything we have done before. This is the story about how I approached a recent project that pushed me to the limit, and how I was able to tackle it and win.
Red Bull TV's video series Chasing the Shot pairs cutting-edge photographers with world-class athletes to show what it takes to capture unparalleled action photography. And for Season One's main episode, they followed teenaged surf photography phenom Leroy Bellet as he set out to capture the surfing photo of a lifetime.
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.
Toy photographer Benedek Lampert recently teamed up with LEGO Hungary to recreate some of the most iconic photographs from the Apollo 11 mission in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. The resulting images are truly impressive and are captured almost entirely in camera.
British fine art photographer David Yarrow visited the island of South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean to photograph the "mind-blowing" wildlife scenes found there. His trip and creative process are captured in this new 4.5-minute short film, titled "Yarrow: The Virtues of Monochrome."
Storm chaser and filmmaker Dustin Farrell (@dustin_farrell) has released a striking (no pun intended) new 4K highlight reel that condenses two years of storm chasing with a Phantom Flex 4K into three and a half minutes of jaw-dropping 1,000fps footage.
Attaching the variable neutral density (ND) filter to a lens basically means that we have added a fourth dimension to our camera. The exposure triangle -- aperture, ISO, shutter speed -- has been expanded with a fourth variable with which we can play to achieve a desired effect or outcome. This opens up for new creative opportunities in our photography and also adds a lot of flexibility to our shooting.
Fine art photographer Borut Peterlin was recently commissioned to shoot some ambrotypes by costume designer Alan Hranitelj, but he went a few steps beyond your standard wet plate collodion photography. In addition to shooting some beautiful multiple-exposures, he also decided to colorize the scans, creating striking photographs the likes of which we've not seen before.
Photographer Neil van Niekerk recently invited his friend Marco Leibetseder into his NYC studio for a photo challenge: rather than using flash, Niekerk and Leibetseder set themselves the challenge to capture some creative portraits that showcased "depth" in-studio using only continuous lighting.
Photographer Nigel Danson recently asked his 50,000+ followers on Instagram -- most of which are outdoor and landscape photographers -- what they think the hardest part of photography is. After getting back 1,827 responses, Danson made this 20-minute video to share the responses.
Introduced in 1988, the Nikon F4 was the world’s first professional autofocus camera, and it made its way quickly into the hands of many working photographers. But despite the incredible leap in technology it represented, it was apparently quickly overtaken by the competition, which built on the solid foundation the F4 offered.
September 21st, 1979. Forty years ago, British rock photographer, Pennie Smith immortalized the destruction of a Fender P-Bass guitar by Paul Simonon of The Clash on the stage of The Palladium in New York City, on gorgeous B&W 35mm film.
My name is Paul Schmit, and today I want to describe to you the journey that led to the time-blended astrolandscape you see above.
The covered Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition—a contest developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London—has revealed a set of 15 "highly commended" images from this year's competition. The winners won't be revealed until October 15th, but this shortlist gives you a sense of the incredible submissions the judges had to choose from.
The aurora season is here again and I figured I’d do a short post here regarding when and where to photograph it. When I’m browsing pictures online, sometimes seeing aurora pictures and checking the comment section, I see a lot of questions and responses from people that all have something to say about the northern lights (aka aurora). As someone who has seen and photographed the aurora many times, here is my little guide.
The Royal Observatory Greenwich has revealed the winners of the prestigious Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2019 competition, and as always, the winning images are spectacular.
This is a year for monumental anniversaries of events in American history—particularly the WWII 75th anniversaries of the D-Day invasion, Operation Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge. With those in mind, I started a project in April photographing WWII veterans, knowing that the numbers still surviving are dropping rapidly each day.
Sometimes the world blows you away. It was like that for us when we first started shooting sea fireflies on rock formations back in 2016. The visual power of these creature lighting up the shoreline was just stunning. It made us want to learn more about these creatures and think about innovative ways of shooting them.
Color is so important in landscape photography. The correct harmony of colors can make a huge difference to an image and help to create your own style. In this 20-minute video, I talk about how I create a painterly look in my photos and how I edit in Lightroom.
When I was a little girl, I lived in Incirlik AFB, Turkey. We lived for a year off base on the third floor of a very large apartment building. My parents spoke no Turkish and the landlady spoke no English, but somehow, they managed just fine.
I'm Martin from the All About Street Photography channel, and today I want to talk about the photo "Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston" by photographer Neil Leifer. I am going to take a closer at the story behind the photograph and why is this picture so iconic.
Landscape photographer Mark Denney recently stumbled across an old folder full of "favorite" images from a few years back. At first, he was just enjoying seeing the progressed he'd made over the years, but then he noticed something: "As I reviewed these images, I noticed the same three compositional mistakes repeated over and over."
Late last year, Queensland Museum photographer Gary Cranitch captured one of the most spectacular underwater images we've ever seen, a photograph of a fleeting 'coral spawn' in the Great Barrier Reef that looks more like a photo of the Milky Way than marine life.
Photographer Jamie Windsor made this inspiring 8-minute video in which he shares 5 tips for breaking out of a creative rut in your photography and staying creative.
You may have heard of the 52-Week Photo Challenge, but have you tried it out before? I committed myself to the challenge in 2014, and my photography skill set has greatly improved since then. Because of that, I want to share this with you.
I have a working collection of 52 film cameras—some of them quite rare and unique, others just yard sale garbage, all of them loved and fun. I recently decided to take all of them out and push some celluloid through them, documenting the process one week at a time as I breathe some life back to these dope little beasts. I’m calling it the Vintage Camera Quest.
After my recent success at mixing vintage Verichrome Pan film with Kodak Instamatic film, I wanted to try this splitfilm trick again. And I wanted to create something that was a “day versus night” exposure, using the lights of an amusement park or the midway of a county fair to build my image.
Two days ago, photographer Paul Schmit captured what he's calling "the most difficult and technical astrolandscape shot I've ever planned and executed." It's an incredible shot, showing the ISS transiting the sunrise in front of some picturesque radio towers atop a mountain peak. This photo was weeks in the making, but Schmit tells PetaPixel he almost missed it.
Typically, when we write about influencers it's not a terribly positive piece. But one Amsterdam-based
Instagram influencer is breaking that mold by doing something uplifting: posting outtakes next to polished photos as a "reality check" for followers who envy her social media image.
During last week's Sony Kando trip, photographer and YouTuber Taylor Jackson got to meet some of the most recognizable faces in the world of photography. Fortunately for us, he took the time to ask each of them for their #1 tip for photographers who are just starting out.
This is our son River, he’s had a camera in his hands since he started to drool. When both your parents are photographers I guess it’s just in the genes and he loves it. He started out with a film Holga and Diana F+ and graduated to a Canon Rebel when he was 2. He is now 4 years old and shoots with our Canon 5D Mark IVs.
Fortunately, we are beginning to find ourselves in a world where it's okay to open up a little more about mental health. It’s great! It’s the age of empathy and humility now, and I think once we begin to empathize properly with each other, we’ll be in a much better place. We’ve all got the same prehistoric brain, and it’s surprising how you can begin to essentially ‘re-program’ your thoughts.
Here's a creative technique to add to your bag of tricks. In this 9.5-minute video, we’ll show you from start to finish how we took an ordinary scene and turned it into to go from day to night in one single exposure, in-camera.
Photographer Dan Marker-Moore visited a remote location in South America to capture the 2019 total solar eclipse back on July 2nd. He then took the photos of the progression and turned them into beautiful "time slice" composites.
Calgary-based portrait photographer and YouTuber Irene Rudnyk recently put together a photo shoot that's getting some well-deserved attention. Using just the shed in her backyard and the natural light pouring in, she was able to capture some gorgeous fashion portraits that imitate a popular in-studio lighting setup.
“It was constant hustle for me the first three years (in business) full time.” I read this quote from a photographer-turned-business coach. It was advice in a Facebook group. I’m not certain the question that elicited this reply, but it doesn’t really matter. The statement stands alone.
Focus on what’s important… pun intended. I’m not referring to lens focus or how to get sharp images. If that's your main concern right now, just Google tutorials on autofocus, zone focusing or micro-adjustments. When I say ‘focus on what's important,’ what I mean is the purpose, meaning, emotion or reason for your photographs.
Lizzy Gadd is a self-portrait landscape photographer. After finding awe-inspiring outdoor locations, Gadd steps into the frame and becomes a human element against a backdrop of wilderness. Smugmug Films just released this 7.5-minute short film that takes us into Gadd's mind and work.
Photographer Nicholas Sherlock—whose impressive 3D-printed DIY creations have appeared on PetaPixel before—is at it again. This time, he's created a fully-functional 300mm extension tube, complete with contacts for aperture control and autofocus, so that he can go out and shoot insane 5x macro photos.
"What lens did you use for that picture?" The only question less helpful to a growing photographer is probably, “What settings did you use for that picture?” Not because I think they are helping a newbie “cheat”, or because I might think it is copying, or ever -- God forbid! -- because I have some secret combination of shutter and aperture that is magic for me. It’s because it really doesn't matter.
“How do I grow my Instagram?” … it's a question I get asked often... too often. So I’m writing this article for my own selfish benefit. Rather than spend time repetitively composing a response, from now on, I can just link here when the next person asks me how they can grow their Instagram.
Every mind-blowing deep space photograph captured by the Hubble space telescope that you've ever seen started out black-and-white. So how do we get those amazing technicolor images of the Pillars of Creation or the Bubble Nebula? This short video explains how scientists manage this feat.
Photographer Joey L. is known for pushing himself to capture stunning imagery. From his documentary work on the frontlines of the fight against ISIS, to A-list celebrity and commercial work, he never shies away from a physical or creative challenge. His most recent commercial shoot was both.
Why do photographers need to market themselves? In a phrase: so that you don't starve to death. No, but seriously. Otherwise, you risk ending up like Vincent van Gogh who (in the words of Steven Pressfield) “produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer in his whole life.”
Legendary photographer Edward Weston was one of the most influential photographers in American history, and in this short video, we get to go back in time, visit his home, and watch him process one of his negatives from start to finish.
