Inspiration

With a little bit of patience and a whole lot of luck, I was able to capture this photograph of myself perched on a rock above the Pacific Ocean. When I set out to photograph the annual famed Perseids Meteor Shower last week, I had a specific goal of capturing a "selfie" photograph with myself in frame and hopefully a meteor streaking overhead (along with a variety of other images throughout the evening). My hope turned into reality in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

In the summer time at Scott Base in Antarctica, there are 4 months in which the Sun never sets. From the latter part of October through the latter part of February, the Sun stays above the horizon line, giving each day 24 hours of sunlight.

If you want to experience what it's like to shoot as a combat photographer, but don't want to actually risk getting shot at, you can look into photographing war reenactments. Lucas Ryan is a photographer who shoots reenactments, and last year he covered D-Day Conneaut, one of the world's premier D-Day reenactment events.

If you're a dog lover, photographer Amanda Jones has a photo project that will tug at your heartstrings. After photographing 30 different dogs as puppies years ago, she revisited them and captured what they look like as older dogs. The before-and-after portraits, a series titled "Dog Years," show how dog's have a unique spark of personality that lasts a lifetime.

In 2013, my then-girlfriend Martina and I were in Queenstown, New Zealand at the end of a two-month trip. The evening before our journey back home, we went out for a walk, absorbing the magical streets.

As a junior in high school in 1997, when I was deciding which path I wanted to go down, fine arts or photography, things were pretty simple. Did I want to express myself with a camera or a pencil? Inspired by masters like Annie Leibovitz and David LaChapelle, I opted for the camera.

Photographer Casey Mac created this wild image by shooting ~800 photos of kite boarders at California's Waddell Creek Beach and then blending the shots together in Photoshop. The photo is titled "Rush Hour." (Here's a larger version.)

Apple has a distinctive style when it comes to product images promoting its gadgets. After seeing the teaser image for the new Apple Watch, photographer Jared Polin of FroKnowsPhoto decided that he would try his hand at recreating the shot as closely as possible.

My name is Jeremy Lebled, and I'm a fashion photographer. I recently just did a shoot to demo Leica's S Camera. My specialty is using just the sun to get a high-end studio look to photographs instead of using dozens of strobes.

Earlier this year, photographer Thomas Blanchard released a mesmerizing time-lapse showing 21 kinds of flowers blooming. Now the artist is back again with another eye-popping project.

Photographer Michael Shainblum created this 20-minute step-by-step video showing how he goes about post-processing a Milky Way photograph using Adobe Lightroom CC.

Here's an inspiring 5-minute video in which renowned street photographer Joel Meyerowitz talks about his approach and mindset to making photos.

When photography enthusiasts John and Sara Jennings found out they were expecting their first child, they decided to get capturing the pregnancy on camera. They shot a series of photos every week for 9 months while they painted a picture and set up the nursery. Afterward, they combined the shots into this creative 3-minute time-lapse video in which Sara gradually gets closer and closer to their daughter's birth as she's working on the room.

My name is Kristjan Järv. I'm a 17-year-old photographer from Estonia, and today I'll be sharing about how I recently created a surreal photo titled "Miseducated."

Sometime during 2010, I began dreaming of quitting my job and traveling around Asia for a year before returning to the work force. I had graduated from college during the global recession back in 2008 and got stuck in a job that I never intended to stay at for long.

Tucson, Arizona-based photography enthusiast Greg McCown recently managed to capture a shot of a lifetime. While shooting landscapes near the small town of Marana, Arizona, McCown snapped this beautiful photo showing both a lightning bolt and a rainbow in the sky.

Here's a 2-minute behind-the-scenes video by Monica Herndon that shows how photojournalist Dirk Shadd of the Tampa Bay Times photographs the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team of the NHL.

Jack Simon has worked as a psychiatrist for four decades. Ten years ago, he began a personal journey in photography, and these days he rarely goes anywhere without a camera by his side.

This past weekend, Perseid meteor shower were predicted along with a very clear night. This is quite rare in the Netherlands so I decided to head out with my camera.

The best portraits sometimes materialize before our eyes and fall right into our laps. That's what just happened to wedding photographer Wes Eisenhauer of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, who captured this gorgeous shot of his daughter under a rainbow.

Los Angeles-based street photographer John Free just published this inspiring 14-minute video in which he discusses and demonstrates his street photography mindset and technique. It offers a glimpse into a day in the life of a man who has been doing and teaching street photography for over 30 years now.

For the past few wildfire seasons in Southern California, Los Angeles-based photographer Stuart Palley has taken his camera out into the hills to document the blazes at night. His long-exposure photographs show both the fury and the beauty of the fires. The resulting collection of images is now part of a series titled Terra Flamma.

Photographer Chris Schmid of Morges, Switzerland, recently traveled to Masai Mara, Kenya, to document how the Kenyans living there were helping to preserve their natural environment.

Garth Milan is one of the top action sports photographers in the world, traveling the world to photograph some of the world's most talented and most extreme athletes. Recently we featured Milan's photos of athlete Robbie Maddison surfing giant waves on a dirt bike. We had the privilege of chatting with Milan to talk about his life, career, and the future of the action sports industry.

After seeing the Paris through a Pentax video we published back in August 2014, filmmaker Keith Tedesco was inspired to turn the concept into a creative short film.

Over the years, we've posted a number of tutorials on how to develop film using coffee and vitamin C, which combine to create a photo process known as caffenol. The solution can be used to develop prints as well, and that's what photographer Gijs van den Berg did for a recent project that documents coffeehouses in Amsterdam.

Camden, London-based commercial still life photographer Piotr Gregorczyk likes to play with food and gravity. One concept he has focused on for a number of recent projects is the idea of showing various food dishes flying through the air as they come together on a plate or in a bowl.

Photographer Dave Hill released this behind-the-scenes video that documents a recent advertising photo shoot for the Japanese carmaker Toyota. Hill shows us how various elements of the photographs are first taken then composited together in postproduction.

Photography can be a thrilling way to explore the world around us, but sometimes we need a bit of inspiration to get moving. ‘The Bigger Picture Cards’ are a way to not only get inspired but to also learn new photographic skills along the way. Sold as a $15 set of flashcards, the deck includes 50 cards to get you out and shooting. Just draw your selection, accept your challenge, and you are on your way to learning by doing.

How do you go about capturing music in a photograph? Photographer Stephen Orlando has an interesting answer: light painting. By attaching LED lights to the bows of violin, viola, and cello players, Orlando is able to capture a creative representation of the sounds created by musicians.

After receiving nearly 18,000 photo submissions, National Geographic Traveler magazine has selected the winning shots for this year's Traveler Photo Contest. It's a series of images of our world that dazzles your eyes and stirs your imagination.

Photographer Trevor Mahlmann has a knack for capturing light trails showing the International Space Station zipping across the sky. Back in June, he made headlines by photographing the ISS from the seat of airliner as he cruised at 40,000 feet. Now he's back again with another neat feat: he shot a self-portrait of himself staring up at the ISS as it zipped by overhead.

Surf photography doesn't usually feature motorcycles, but this crazy shoot did. For its latest project titled "Pipe Dream," DC Shoes partnered with Australian stunt bike rider Robbie Maddison for dirt bike surfing. The team spent 2.5 years working on making the idea a reality, creating a modified bike that has boasts special fins for hydroplaning, a waterproof engine, and custom rear tires.

Movies on the big screen sometimes have valuable nuggets of wisdom that can be applied to photography (and life). We recently shared one such clip from the movie "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty." Here's another one from the movie "Boyhood." …

When photographer Alessandro Della Bella's son Claudio was born in December 2014, he shared the happy news of the new family member by shooting a picture of Claudio sleeping in the main compartment of his camera bag.

Yesterday we shared a cringeworthy short film about how photo sharing has altered the way we experience the special moments in our lives; instead of being in the moment and enjoying it, it's easy to get caught up with making sure it's caught on camera (and perhaps shared on social media).

Giles Penfound is a photographer with an engrossing past and a story to tell. Penfound began his journey as a professional photographer over 25 years ago and spent most of his time documenting military operations from within the British Army. Documentary photographer Neale James approached Penfound to produce a short film about his life and work, and the result is the inspirational 30-minute video above. (Note: the video contains some strong language.)

Canadian singer Kalle Mattson just released a music video for his song "Avalanche" that creatively recreates some of the most famous album cover photos in the history of music. Over the course of 4 minutes, Mattson steps into 28 different sets to show what his album cover would look like as other iconic albums. The Ramones, Jay-Z, the Backstreet Boys, and Michael Jackson are some of the artists referenced. Brownie points if you can name the others.

Quintin Lake is a fine art and architectural photographer based in Cheltenham, England. He has been working on an ambitious photo project titled The Perimeter, which involves walking 10,000km (~6214 miles) around the British coast in sections at a time. The journey started back in April, and Lake expects that it will take him 5 years to complete the challenge.

Photographer Liam Hennessey runs a wedding photography studio in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Recently he was hired to shoot a wedding at a hotel that was extremely close to his studio. Wanting to do something unique for the couple, an ambitious idea popped into Hennessey's head: "Why don't we have every guest come to our studio and get their photo taken?" he thought.

Photographer Meagan Abell from Richmond, Virginia, was browsing a thrift shop a few weeks ago when she stumbled across 4 sets of medium format negatives, sitting in plastic sleeves among other vintage photos. After purchasing and scanning them, she was amazed at the beautiful photos that emerged.

This amazing 4-minute video is the world's first full mountain biking segment to be captured in a single continuous shot. Seen in the film unReal, the shot shows top slopestyle mountain biker Brandon Semenuk tackling a custom trail while the camera seemingly-magically follows his tricks down the hill.

Swedish photographer and retoucher Erik Johansson is well known for his mind-bending photo-manipulations and optical illusions, which are all made with careful photography and Photoshopping. If you're wondering how the images are actually created, Johansson has been regularly release behind-the-scenes videos showing his techniques.

While teaching a street photography workshop in Chicago recently, photographer Chuck Jines saw an opportunity to teach his students how he's sometimes able to shoot portraits of strangers from extremely close distances without them noticing.

My trip to McNeil River, Alaska actually started in November of 2014 when I read this PetaPixel article describing it. In the article they mentioned that, due to the tremendous interest in McNeil River, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game has instituted a lottery system.

Want to hear the story of how the iconic Afghan Girl photo was shot? NPR's All Things Considered interviewed renowned photojournalist Steve McCurry to find out the background behind the famous National Geographic cover picture.

How do go about making photos of big wave surfing even more extreme? Here's one way: add fire to the mix. Surfer Jamie O'Brien recently tackled some of the world's heaviest and dangerous waves while wearing a wetsuit that was set on fire. Photographer Tim McKenna was on hand to capture the stunt.

Photographer Andrew Fladeboe has spent years traveling to countries around the world with the goal of capturing the unique relationship between humans and dogs. His goal is to document the different ways cultures have come to rely on working dogs in shepherding livestock. The ongoing project is titled The Shepherd's Realm.

There are times when videographers capture views of our world that inspire a sense of awe and wonder. Immersive Media succeeds in doing that with this 4K, 360-degree trailer for Samsung's GearVR. Utilizing sophisticated in-house camera gear, the company takes us on an unforgettable 360° ride around the world.

Travel photographer Trey Ratcliff has millions of social media followers online, runs a famous travel photography blog called Stuck in Customs, designed a new camera bag that's blowing up on Kickstarter, and is about to embark on a nationwide bus tour of the US. Ratcliff recently gave a TEDx talk in Queenstown, New Zealand, in which he shares about his life and career journey that brought him to where he is today.