Inspiration

Shoot Outside Your Comfort Zone

One of my goals as a photographer is to always improve. Regardless of how well others may think my work is I am always trying to learn and grow as a creative.

2 Affordable Films for Photographers on a Budget

It's time to give some long-overdue love to two cheap films in price, but by no means in quality. It can be tempting to go for the expensive films when you're out buying rolls of 35mm, but let's not forget about the bottom of the shelf.

Perhaps He Sees Something We Can’t

I had a few hours to kill before work one morning, so I decided to head down to a public garden a few miles from my house and take some pictures.

Lessons Learned One Month Into My 365 Project

Well, that’s one month in the books for my 365 project. There were some days where the ideas came easy and some nights filled with tears. (Okay not that dramatic.) According to Lightroom, I took 1244 photographs this month.

20 Photography Magazines You Should Definitely Follow on Instagram

It’s 2017, and Instagram is now 600 million users strong; that’s a lot of new images/videos and stories each day. An effervescent but non curated activity. Beside all the personal accounts and brands, there’s a few magazines. Some of them revolve around the third art: photography. Let’s get a deeper look…

How Shooting Film Changed Me as a Photograper

My interest in photography began about three years ago when I picked up a digital camera and starting taking the same images that any photography noob would take: long exposures, landscapes, still lifes, sometimes street photography.

Jarob Ortiz, the Next ‘Ansel Adams’ of the National Park Service

In December 2015, the Internet was abuzz with a National Park Service (NPS) job listing that was considered the search for "the next Ansel Adams": a position for a black-and-white large format photographer with a salary up to $100,000 per year.

How to Be a Spartan Photographer

I’ve been really into Spartan culture lately. I’m impressed with their physical fortitude, their obedience and duty to the state and their frugal lifestyle, and I find myself wondering what kind of Spartan attributes we could apply to photography.

Photo Essay: My Road to Recovery from Traumatic Brain Injury

My name is Trevor Gavin and I'm a photographer based near San Francisco. I'd like to share a very personal story of my darkest time. It’s a part of my healing and a part of moving on. It’s the only way I know how to express my emotions.

Starting from Scratch: Becoming a Photographer in Your 30s

You've probably seen photographer Sean Tucker's work around, on PetaPixel if nowhere else, but did you know he didn't start his photographic journey until his 30s? In this video, he shares his inspirational journey from priest, to photographer/waiter, to full-time photographer.

How to Develop Black & White Film for Extreme Contrast and Detail

The world of analog photography surprises me a bit more every day! I recently read about a technique called Stand Development, so I have decided to try it myself. For those of who never heard of it before, let me explain you the differences between it and a normal development process.

Women’s Work: Dramatic Portraits of Women Who Do ‘Men’s’ Jobs

Photographer and father of two Chris Crisman wants his children—the 4-year-old boy and the 2-year-old girl—to know that they can do become anything they want... without caveats. His series Women's Work drives home this point with dramatic portraits of women who do what are traditionally considered "men's" jobs.

Bringing a Fairy Tale to Life: Creating a Convincing Composite Image

In my mind, the process of creating a compelling composite image is as close to painting as a photographer can get: it allows you to create almost purely from imagination, not being constricted by physical locations as with traditional photography.

These Photo Restorations May Boggle Your Mind

Tetyana Dyachenko is a Ukrainian photo retoucher who often does restorations of vintage photos that are extremely damaged -- often seemingly beyond recovery. Yet using her Photoshop skills, Dyachenko is able to recover (and recreate) extremely fine details in the photos.

This Simple One Light Overhead Setup Makes for Dramatic Portraits

We're crazy about great one-light portraits, and fashion and portrait photographer Jeff Rojas is an expert at creating and honing these minimalist setups. In his latest video, he shows you how a single light placed above your subject makes for beautiful portraits in both color and black and white.

Sparkling Photos of Flowers Glowing Under Intense UV Light

Just when we thought there was no possible way someone could capture flowers in a fresh and unique way, we stumbled across the work of Craig Burrows. Burrows uses a technique called ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence (UVIVF) to capture flower photos the likes of which we have never seen before.

How to Create a Strong Focal Point and Manage Attention Inside Your Photos

Focal point is a term that photographers and photography blogs throw around continually. “Create a focal point,” it’s said, “it should be the first and last place the eye goes in your image.” That’s true, of course, but like most important things it’s easier said than done.

On the Fear of Photographing in Public

The joy of photographing on the street comes from close and engaging photos. Displaying the human nature and emotions in a way that the audience can relive these moments requires the photographer to be close and engaging as well. Unfortunately for a lot of us, it is not easy to stand out from the masses and overcome artificial social boundaries.

John Schell: The Importance of Authenticity in Lifestyle Photos

John Schell is a lifestyle, commercial, editorial and advertising photographer currently based in Los Angeles, California. A New York transplant, he started his photography career after nearly fifteen years of teaching special education at both the middle and high school level.