Inspiration

This ‘Tales by Light’ Trailer is 2 Minutes of Pure Photo Passion

Want an incredible dose of photographic inspiration? Check out this newly-released 2-minute trailer for the new TV series Tales by Light, a new TV series that follows 5 top photographers as they take their cameras to the ends of the Earth -- photographers who have an unquenchable desire to capture and share the wonders of this world with the rest of us.

Assignment of a Lifetime: Riding in a U-2 Spy Plane at the Edge of Space

Back in 2010, San Francisco-based photographer Christopher Michel received a once-in-a-lifetime photo assignment from the US Navel Institute: to ride in the back seat of a U-2 spy plane at the "edge of space." At the plane's cruising and intelligence-gathering altitude of 70,000 feet above the ground, temperatures outside the plane fall to 70 degrees below zero.

How I Did a Zombie Attack Pre-Wedding Photo Shoot

The 2014 wedding season was very unique for me. It wasn't just that I participated on it from “the other side” -- I myself became a happy husband -- I was also a part of one particularly unconventional wedding photo shoot.

This Band Photo Shoot Used 18 Pounds of Exploding Fireworks

Here's a photo shoot idea that you probably shouldn't try yourself. Photographer Jake Harsh recently did a wild photo shoot with the electro-pop band Hand of Hearts that involved 18 pounds of fireworks exploding around the three band members. The short behind-the-scenes video above shows what the intense shoot was like.

From the Streets to the Gym: Photographing ex-Gang Members Lifting Weights

Ever since I photographed basketball in Rwanda, I have been fascinated and almost obsessed with ways sport and fitness can improve culture and society. In particular, my fascination has revolved around impoverished regions. Last June, in Rwanda, where genocide, poverty, and disease devastated the small country and, a few months ago, in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester.

Shooting Son Doong in 360°

As me and my team left for Vietnam this January, we had a goal: to make an interactive reportage about the world’s largest cave for National Geographic. This included several things no one had ever attempted before: lighting up and capturing the largest caverns that exist on this Earth. In 360 degrees.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Be Inspired by Your Photos

I think, as an industry, photographers talk about inspiration a lot. We are either trying to find it, discover it or attempting to evoke it. I’ve recently found inspiration in the last place I would expect it: in my own work. More than the work, actually, the inspiration is from the subjects. And the inspiration that affected me has nothing to do with photography. Over the last two years, I’ve stumbled into photographing more athletes and fitness enthusiasts, and it has, in great part, …

Famous Movies and TV Shows Recreated with Things Found at Home

We first featured the Cardboard Box Office project back in 2013 as parents Lilly and Leon Mackie were attracting quite a bit of attention for their creative recreations of Hollywood films with their baby boy, Orson. In the year-and-a-half since, the family has continued shooting low-budget photos, branched out into TV shows, begun doing commercial shoots with their concept, and been nominated for a Webby award.

Idea: Use a Long Exposure at Night to Shoot a Starry Double Image

This starry double exposure-style photograph was made using a single long exposure. Photographer Ted Schiele was 190 seconds into a long exposure photo of the night sky when he heard a car coming down the road. He then pointed his camera down towards the car and exposed the camera for another 13 seconds as it approached.

How to Survive as a Photographer in Today’s Industry

There was a time in which anyone who could light a photo well was of value, but those people are of no value anymore, says artist rep Maren Levinson. In the 5-minute interview above, Levinson offers some great insights into how the photography industry has changed over the past several years and what photographers need to do to stay relevant and needed.

Shooting Weddings with a $20 CCTV Lens

A while back, I came across an article about using a super cheap CCTV lens. The results to me looked something like a Voigtlander f/0.95 but for a tiny fraction of the cost. I picked one up off eBay for something like $20 a year or so ago.

Anxiety Disorder Depicted Through Self-Portraits

LSU photography student Katie Joy Crawford has personally struggled with general anxiety disorder for over a decade. For her senior thesis exhibition, she chose to make her inner experience the subject of a series of self-portraits. The project is titled "My Anxious Heart."

A Medium Format Shooter’s Photographic Process

Photographer Andrew Jamieson was recently asked to give a presentation at work on his medium format film photography process. Instead of sharing a slideshow, Jamieson filmed this beautiful 4-minute video that covers how he loads Tri-X film into his Hasselblad, meters and shoots his photos, develops his film, scans it into a computer, and post-processes the images in Photoshop.

A Conversation with Photographer Rick Smolan

If you have an hour to spare, here's a fantastic interview you should listen to. It's a Talks at Google event featuring renowned photographer Rick Smolan, who has shot for TIME, LIFE, and National Geographic. He's also one of the bestselling coffee table photo book photographers of all time.

Clone Portraits Show Woman Before and After Losing 150 Pounds

Photographer Blake Morrow shot a creative series of clone photos showing his friend Beth Beard before and after she lost 150 pounds. The portraits were taken two years apart and combined into pop-culture inspired clone photos showing old Beth interacting with new Beth. It's a series titled The Beth Project.

An Interview with Henri Cartier-Bresson from 1958

A couple of months ago, we shared an interview with the photographer known as Weegee that was released in the 1958 vinyl record titled "Famous Photographers Tell How." On that same record is an interview with Henri Cartier-Bresson in which the legendary photojournalist shares his thoughts on what photography is, the way he approaches it, and various opinions on theory and technique.

Why Having Your Portrait Made Is Important

My friend Matthew Simmons and I did recently did a photo shoot with an amazing little girl named Desi Robinson. After sending Renee, Desi's mother, the finished images and talking to her a few days after, something really hit me.

Shooting Insect Macros on the Cheap with a Reversed Lens

If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to achieve high magnification in your photography, you need to know about the reverse lens macro photography technique. Reverse lens macro photography has allowed me to achieve the magnification I couldn’t come close to with my more expensive equipment.

An Amateur Photographer’s Striking Pictures of the Baltimore Protests

Just a week ago, Devin Allen was just another photo enthusiast sharing his work on the Web, regularly posting artsy photos for his relatively small and faithful Instagram following. After protests and riots erupted in Baltimore this week, Allen suddenly became a much sought-after photographer who's sharing raw and gritty images from ground level for the world to see.

David Alan Harvey: Photography is the World’s Only Common Language

Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey recently gave this inspiring 18-minute talk at TEDxVerona titled "Life is Art." He shares the story of his own journey in photography starting from when he was diagnosed with polio at 6 years old, and had only a small window as his viewfinder into the world during months of solitary confinement.

Gorgeous Aerial Drone Footage of Antarctica

Kalle Ljung of Stockholm, Sweden, recently spent 16 days touring the Antarctic with his 73-year-old father. He brought along a DJI Phantom 2 drone with a GoPro HERO3+ Black camera to document the trip from above. The footage he captured is gorgeous and can be experienced in the 8-minute short film above, titled "Antarctica."

Ten Years of Shooting a Single Alleyway in Norway

For his project "In the Alley," Norwegian photographer Lars Andersen spent ten years visiting one particular alleyway in the city of Tromsø, Norway. In a country filled with unbelievable natural landscapes, Andersen chose to focus his lens on a seemingly mundane urban location to see what he could create.