Two pairs of researchers from Cornell University and Adobe have teamed up and developed a "Deep Photo Style Transfer" algorithm that can automatically apply the style (read: color and lighting) of one photo to another. The early results are incredibly impressive and promising.
Here's a fun little experiment to try one night this week. Take that box of crackers (biscuits if you're formal), polish off the last few hangers-on, and then use that box to create some interesting DIY lighting effects with your off-camera flash.
There is a progression that takes place in the journey that is our lighting knowledge: ambient light > on-camera flash > bouncing that flash > off-camera strobes > gels.
I recently collaborated with food typographer Danielle Evans. She approached me with the idea of doing a beauty shoot except the jewelry would be made out of candy that she crafted. I was intrigued and immediately began planning.
It doesn't matter if you're a beginner, intermediate, or even a professional, you'll want to give Broncolor's free "How To" page a look. There, you'll find nearly 100 pro lighting examples—beautiful photos, each accompanied by a gear list, description, and lighting diagram. It's a tutorial gold mine.
We're not entirely sure why, but product photography tutorials are coming hard and fast lately. So in case this DIY lightbox wasn't good enough, and 360° product photography isn't your thing, here's a great tutorial that will show you how to capture killer reflective product shots on a sea of black.
Fashion and portrait photographer Jeff Rojas is back with another simple, incredibly useful lighting tip. This time, he's showing how to use a single reflective umbrella to create three distinct looks by simply moving your light source around your subject.
I came across dichroic film years ago while researching materials for an art lighting business, Lightlink Lighting. The color changing properties of this material was so inspiring I ended up creating new lighting designs based on it.
It would be great if you could take advantage of an epic or picturesque backdrop every time you went out to shoot portraits. But since we don't all live in Iceland, here are a few simple tips that'll help you make the most of a crappy location on your next spontaneous portrait shoot.
Introductions to basic lighting don't get much simpler or better than this. You could call it Lighting 101, and whether that light is coming from a window or an artificial light source, the info here qualifies as "must know basics" for anybody with a camera in hand.
When photographer Paul Schlemmer started out in photography in his late teens, he spent the first four years studying the subject of light. As he became more proficient, he began sketching lighting diagrams to share how photos were lit and constructed.
Yesterday I talked about the overall ideas behind how we shot an MMA fighter smashing food for Nikon's “Moment of Impact” campaign. As promised, today I’d like to discuss the technical details about how I lit the shoot.
There are unfortunately times when technology just lets us down. It’s not always because it inevitably breaks either: sometimes it is simply because every piece of gear has its strengths and weaknesses, and flash triggers are no exception.
German photographer Michael Quack has created a helpful resource for photographers getting started with portrait lighting equipment. It's a look at 111 lights and modifiers and the different looks you get using them.
My name is Nick Fancher and I'm a portrait and commercial photographer who specializes in lighting, specifically with the use of small flash in unconventional locations.
Olympus this week announced its new STF-8 Macro Flash, the world's first macro flash that boasts durable weatherproofing.
Drone lighting is a technique that's taking off in the world photography. After seeing photographer Reuben Wu photos of landscapes at night that were lit using an LED-equipped drone, photographers Ryland West and Paul Heran were inspired to take the technique to a new level with a project titled Highlight.
I definitely love do-it-yourself projects, especially those that help me out with a project in a niche way.
This foreground bokeh look is actually a setup I played around with a few times many years ago. I thought it would be a good, fun setup to share, as you can get some interesting results whilst playing around the much-loved bokeh.
Back in 2014, San Diego-based startup Lume Cube unveiled its eponymous cube LED light that can output 1,500 lumens while small enough to fit in your pocket. Now the company is launching its next product, a followup light called the Life Lite.
As we mentioned this morning, composition is one of the most critical aspects of photography. But another, equally important piece is understanding the basic laws of light and how to use them when capturing a photograph.
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to night photography is incorporating good foreground elements, but learning a few simple tricks will instantly elevate your game.
The UK-based lighting equipment manufacturer Bowens is launching its new Generation X line of flashes in the US. The lineup includes two systems: XMT flashes for location lighting and XMS flashes for studio purposes.
The folks at Breed fashion photography school recently set up an interesting (and very educational) challenge for themselves: recreate a beauty shot of actress Kristen Stewart that was captured by famed fashion photographer Mario Testino for this year's Chanel ad campaign.
This article is about how you don't always need fancy lights for photo shoots: I recently shot the outdoor nighttime fantasy photo above, titled "The SpellBinder" and featuring Kara Markley, using only the light from candles and iPhone flashlights.
For their 32nd annual Big Shot nighttime community photo project this year, the folks over at RIT decided to light the iconic 19-story Kodak Tower skyscraper at night... by hand... with the help of 2,800 volunteers holding flashes and flashlights.
Photographer Karl Taylor made this 7-minute walkthrough video after people asked about his lighting setup for a commercial studio portrait he shot and posted to Facebook.
If you're looking for a simple lighting setup for dramatic portraits, look no further. Photographer Aaron Anderson has put together a lighting tutorial that will show you how he uses one light, a black flag, and a white card to capture beautiful, dramatic headshots.
“But, what about gear?” It’s a question I hear a lot. Broncolor or Profoto? Fender or Gibson? Lamborghini or Ferrari? Which toy/software/high-end piece of gear is the best so that I can do exactly what that photographer is able to do?
In a recent article, I spoke about the best ways to perfectly light your background with colored gels. We covered the best things to keep in mind if strong and vibrant colors across your backdrop are your objective. It turns out that gelling your background is actually relatively simple -- it's keeping those strong vibrant colors that's actually the tricky part.
At first glance, it seems like an easy thing to achieve: how hard can it be to get a great looking gelled background in your portrait?
Hey PetaPixel! Let's talk about taking pictures of lightsabers. How to make 'em look good, specifically.
The softbox is one of the staples of light shaping, but are you using it the same way as everybody else? If you need a bit of an inspirational spark to light your creative fire, this short video featuring lighting expert Andrea Belluso will show you how to, in his words, "think outside the softbox."
In this article I will show you the basics of how to do dark field and bright field lighting and a quick way to convert any softbox into a striplight using office supplies.
In this blog post, I would like to share some insights with you regarding the connection between aperture and the inverse-square law of light, as well as their effects on light fall-off.
One of the most luring aspects of photography, for me, is storytelling. Whether it's weddings, photojournalism, or creative portraiture, the opportunity to engage the viewer and pull them into another world is an incredible thing.
For his new project Lux Noctis, photographer Reuben Wu lit and photographed landscapes at night by mounting powerful LED lights to GPS-enabled drones.
God of Lighting, Lighting Rock Star, the late great Dean Collins has been called many things, and all of them point to the fact that he knew light better than, perhaps, anybody else you've ever studied under.
Sony today announced that it's planning to launch a new wireless lighting control system for professional Sony shooters.
Profoto today announced a reboot of its classic Beauty Dish from the 1980s. The new version of this classic tool is both lightweight and collapsible.
What do you do when you find a good location to photograph, but the time of day isn't right due to strong sunlight and harsh shadows? That's the subject of this 12-minute tutorial by photographer Mike Browne.
Here's something that's both punny and bright. Polaroid has created a new handheld light called the... wait for it... BrightSaber. It's an LED lighting wand that photographers and videographers can use to light up their subjects and scenes.
MagMod is back with another novel lighting product for photographers. Called the MagBeam, it's both a revolutionary flash extender and a gobo projector.
Want to add some flexible LED panels to your lighting kit without breaking the bank? This 19-minute video tutorial by DIY Perks is for you. It's a step-by-step guide on how you can assemble your own LED panel for about $60 by buying high CRI LED strip lights (~$25), a PWM LED dimmer (~$8), an articulating DSLR camera arm (~$18), some faux leather for the backing, some wiring and a solder gun.
A few months ago I was working on putting together a still life shoot with a fantastic stylist and a friend of mine, Kiki Tse. She had come up with this beautiful idea for a shoot: to represent a person in a still life context by the use of some of their personal effects.
Almost everything I do as a photographer comes back to this challenge: seeing light as a cinematographer would on set. I was recently reminded of this in conversation with a friend and fellow photographer as I was trying to think of the best advice I could give to someone wanting to step up their lighting game. So I’m sharing one of my lighting journals from film school, it was my sort of “ah ha” moment after several semesters of confusion and frustration when it came to lighting.
I was recently contacted by my cousin because a group was looking for volunteers to photograph 10 cancer survivor children. Without any hesitation, I contacted the person in charge and booked the shoot.
Enjoy looking at lighting diagrams to see how photographers light their photos? Check out the way photographer Joey Hernandez shares his. Instead of sharing simple 2D layouts showing his gear and placements, Hernandez shoots behind-the-scenes photos of his shoots and overlays helpful (and humorous) labels across important (or random) things in the shot.
In this post I'll be sharing the best one light portrait setup I've ever used. I'll come clean right off the bat here and say that I stumbled across this little super easy lighting technique more by luck than skill.
This is the cheapest yet most effective photography hack I can think of. Step one: get disc reflector. Step two: cut lens-sized hole in said reflector. Step three: profit.
