Here's an interesting cautionary tip and something that we'd honestly never given a second thought to: it turns out that certain chemicals in sunscreen can damage cameras with polycarbonate resin bodies, so you'd better wash your hands the next time you put on sunscreen at the beach and decide to go out shooting afterwards.
Back in June, I decided to try my hand at modeling.
Wedding photos are wonderful. But sometimes sitting around the living room looking through a couple hundred, if not thousand, wedding photos isn’t exactly ‘fun’ for the friends you inevitably force into it.
Well, there’s a solution for that. Just do what this couple did and turn the wedding photographs into an animated short film.
You have a powerful idea for a photography project, but not all the funds you need to make it happen. Sound familiar?
The great news is there are many foundations, non-profits and private companies alike, who are willing to fund worthy photographers based on talent and project goals. Some offer grants for photojournalists who expose social injustices; others focus on editorial photographers who tell long-form stories.
We’ve rounded up 16 as a start to help you in your search. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, so feel free to add others to the list via the comments section!
Author’s note: The below video contains no explicit nudity, but may still be considered NSFW by some -- proceed with caution.
If you’re looking to spice up your portraiture a bit, Smoking Strobes has a neat little trick that you should try out if you don't already have it in your repertoire. It’s done using speedlights, although probably not in the way you normally use them.
Rather than the speedlight being on-camera or triggered through a set of wireless triggers, this method of lighting a subject is done by ‘flash painting’ one pop of the flash at a time.
COOPH, The Cooperative of Photography, is back in the photo tip game again, this time showing us 7 smartphone photography tips you'll want to be writing down if you ever shoot with the computer in your pocket.
From unique panorama uses to a clever way to easily take partially underwater photos, these tips are quick, easy and will certainly add a little variety to your Instagram arsenal.
Want to make some great photos but don’t have or don’t want to spend a lot of money? A few days ago I posted photo of a Hummingbird on my Facebook page I took with a new Nikon D810 and a 85mm 1.8. I received a comment asking me “how much money do you spend on your equipment to get a shot like this?” Others comment from time to time that they’d love to get into photography but don’t have the money.
So, I thought, how close can I come to some of the shots I get with my Nikon D600 and the D810 with a really cheap used DSLR? The personal challenge began.
DigitalRevTV recently shared a useful video featuring the more mellow Lok that discussed how to photograph Hong Kong if you've only got a few hours to spend shooting. The video itself is interesting and full of great info shared in that low-key style only possible for DRTV when Kai is on vacation, but one tip in particular caught peoples' eye.
It’s no secret now that modern cameras have taken photographers to new heights with their ability to shoot at and above ISO 1600. Personally, I can now shoot in situations where previously, I ‘had no choice’ but to use flash or put the camera down, so it’s no surprise many photographers are taking advantage of high ISO to be able to shoot in poor existing light.
For those of you using Google Chrome as your main browser, here’s a neat little trick to help create a custom Chrome search for all your favorite photo sharing sites.
If you've been toying around with time-lapse photography and want try the next logical evolution, or if you simply want a fun photography project for the weekend, this quick hyperlapse how-to from the fun folks over at DigitalRevTV has you covered. (Warning: Some strong language)
Here is a photograph of a Sydney funnel-web spider, Atrax robustus.
I won’t explain the biology of this delightful animal here – you may read about it at Wikipedia in greater arachnological detail. Instead, I want to show the process by which I arrived at this composition. Most photographs involve some combination of creativity and constraint, and this one was no different.
Facebook may not be your main photo storage solution (at least we hope it's not), but knowing how to download a backup of all the photos and videos you've uploaded to and shared through the service is still a useful skill to keep tucked away in your Internet toolbox.
Fortunately, the social network actually has a very straightforward, secure and simple system in place so you can download a backup of all your photos, videos, messages and posts in just a few simple steps.
If you've ever shot on-location somewhere far away, you probably had to make this tough decision: what gear do I take and what do I leave at the studio? For big photo shoots you'd rather err on the side of caution and take it all, but airline luggage allowances make that impossible... or do they?
It turns out that some airlines have a special policy that allows media professionals to pack a whole lot more gear.
This post is something I’ve struggled with for months, and debated even writing. But it’s time to share my story, and explain why I’ve been absent.
Asking a stranger on the street to take your picture often leaves you shaking your head afterwards. That's because, for some reason, most people seem to think the ideal portrait has you standing smack in the middle of the frame.
To solve this problem, photographer and Reddit user EMDX has come up with a very useful and simple little tip.
The guys over at HouseholdHacker have come up with and shared a cheap product photography trick that's incredibly simple but yields awesome results. And all you need to take advantage of it is some sort of reflective surface (they used a glossy black trashcan...), a computer monitor, and a smartphone camera!
We've said this about a few other wedding photography resources, but this infographic is the kind of thing every bride and groom should be shown before they embark on the harrowing journey of hiring a wedding photographer. If they did, maybe they wouldn't be so shocked at what are, essentially, perfectly reasonable prices.
Noise reduction, much like sharpening, is one of those post-processing tools that is often overused or used improperly, yielding terrible results. But as Bryan O'Neill Hughes shows you in the video above, tackling noise in Photoshop can be both easy and effective just as long as you know what you're doing.
The photo above was taken by Nathaniel Jude Heres (who goes by the Reddit username cuddymonster) and it might just turn out to be the next fun group photo trend. Rather than taking a standard beach shot or the nearly-impossible-to-get-everyone-in-the-shot group selfie, just toss your GoPro in the air and hope for the best!
TL;DR: If you are using Dropbox as a sole backup of your files, think again. Without making a mistake, you might lose your files.
I started using Dropbox back in 2009 and have always loved the service. Over time, I kept moving more and more files to my Dropbox folder and eventually had to upgrade to the Pro plan to keep up with the space requirements. In particular, I moved there all of my photos in order to be able to view/share them online and also to have them backed up.
In April of this year, a hard drive in my laptop was running low on space so I decided to use the Dropbox’s Selective Sync feature to unsync some large directories from the laptop. Because there was never any problem with the service and also because it’s already the year 2014, I thought it might be about time that one can trust a cloud-based storage service and use them as a sole backup of their files. Boy, I was wrong.
A couple of days ago, we republished a short tutorial by talented photographer Justin Ng that explained how he uses the Expose To The Right (ETTR) method to capture milky way photos in the heavy light pollution of Singapore.
But if you'd like a more detailed, video run through, this tutorial by astrophotographer Ian Norman -- whose Sony a7S Astrophotography Review, incidentally, appeared on PetaPixel yesterday -- shows you exactly how to adjust your images to get the perfect results.
Dear Eric,
You are 18 years old. You just got a point and shoot digital camera from Mom as a high school graduation present. You are super excited, as you never had a camera before. A lot of exciting things will happen in your life surrounding photography. I wanted to write this letter to you and give you some advice I wish I knew. This is coming from your 26-year-old-self.
When it comes to photographing the elusive Milky Way in one of the most light-polluted major cities like Singapore, timing is critical. Most of the faint details will be washed out by the extreme light pollution and if we were to shoot the Milky Way under unfavorable atmospheric conditions, our attempt would be futile.
Unfortunately, most of the tutorials online only work in locations that are at least 2 stops darker than most of the dark locations in Singapore and so, we need to do more in post-processing to unveil the elusive Milky Way and more complex workflow is required if we’re shooting at much brighter locations.
That pop-up flash on top of your camera can come in very handy, but if you're a beginner, try giving these alternatives a shot to produce more creative, atmospheric images.
Landscape photographer Tim Cooper is a name we just recently shared with you. Today, we’re sharing his work with you again, this time in the form of a presentation he shared at a B&H event earlier this year. In it, he gives a detailed look at the world of macro photography.
Last night, I posted a photo I took (shown above) in 2012 to Reddit's /r/pics subreddit.
After I posted it, the upvotes slowly began to trickle in. Within the hour it had amassed around 4000 upvotes, peaking at around 6500 and holding the top spot for a long while. Recognition! Sweet, sweet recognition! It felt great.
Just got your hands on a drone and can't wait to use it to shoot aerial photographs? First, make sure you only use it where it can legally fly. If you're not sure where to look for this info, there's a new website designed just for you.
It's called Don't Fly Drones Here (DFDH), and is an interactive map that shows off limit areas of the US by shading them in with red.
Want to make sure you can upload your travel photos quickly from your hotel room? Hotel WiFi Speed Test is a service that can help you plan ahead when you're roaming the world with your camera.
Photography is not about the camera. It’s not even about the beautiful images we create. It is about telling powerful stories. Photography is a tool for creating awareness and understanding across cultures, communities, and countries; a tool to make sense of our commonalities in the world we share. I believe the way to find common ground is by seeing yourself in others.
Instagram is a powerful tool that professional photographers must take seriously if they want to be discovered via the platform – because just like every other person with a smart phone, photo editors from major publications are on there too. It’s a way to stay top of mind and connected with the photo-editors you’ve previously worked with, and to share work that can catch their eye and could inspire your next assignment.
Do you suck at Photoshop? No? Well, Donnie Hoyle seems to think so, which is why he put together this wonderful resource detailing how to properly use the clone stamp and manual cloning tools in Photoshop. (Warning: There is some strong language in the video)
Neil Gaiman is an author, a writer whose work you have probably read at some point or another, but the advice he offers in this 20-minute commencement address is as applicable to photographers as it is to any other creative who is embarking on (or currently in the middle of living) a life whose goal might be best summed up by the phrase 'make good art.'
When it comes to macro photography, knowing how to properly focus stack your images can make a massive difference. To that end, the walkthrough above and Photoshop tutorial below offer a fantastic explanation of what focus stacking is, why and when you should be using it, and how to do it using software most of us already have installed and ready to go.
Erik Kim is one of the best-known street photographers out there, today. In his continues efforts to shoot and share, Kim has put out the full presentation he used in his Introduction to Composition for Street Photography talk at Gulf Photo Plus 2014.
Once you've been shooting for a while (and becoming good at it) someone will inevitably ask you if you are interested in shooting something for a fee, either for a commercial or editorial job (but for the sake of discussion I am labeling any paid shoot as a commercial shoot).
Your first paid assignment will certainly be very exciting, but there are a few things you should know before saying yes.
Despite the early sunrises, late sunsets and harsh daytime sunlight of summer it’s still one of our favorite times for photography. Being outside with your camera in the warmer months just feels so good.
If you’re struggling to come up with creative ideas during summer, however, we’ve got a few tips that might help.
Polarizing filters are a piece of gear that some photographers swear by and others don't touch. One reason why might be the various misconceptions and misunderstandings surrounding what polarizing filters do and what benefit they truly provide.
For landscape photographers, getting your entire scene in focus while keeping things as sharp as possible at the same time can be a challenge.
But if you follow the simple technique laid out by photographer Joshua Cripps in the tutorial above, as he puts it, it becomes "as easy as manually removing a corn syrup-based artificially-flavored confectionary product, from the infantile grasp of a newborn Homo sapien."
Over the years, Adobe has made image editing programs like Photoshop and Camera Raw much more intuitive and easy to use so that it's not quite so intimidating for beginners to dive in, but one of the adjustments that still scares many first timers is Curves.
Well, I have to admit this has been a fun series. I’ve learned a whole lot. That’s what makes this so fun -- I get some results I don’t understand, get some help figuring out what is going on, and before I know it, I’ve learned something that explains other things I haven’t been able to understand.
The team over at COOPH today shared an insightful video that describes 7 DIY photography tips that use nothing more than items you have lying around the house. From can koozies to tights, a number of unusual household products make a cameo and help you add a unique, homemade element to your photo game.
In an age where social media fatigue is a real and prominent problem, photographer Erik Almas tries to stand out from the crowd by means of the age-old print portfolio. Detailing the ‘whys’ and ‘whats,’ he briefly goes over what it is that made him decide to go back to the physical portfolio and how his work is organized in the interesting video above.
Photojournalist Ed Kashi has received many accolades over the course of his photojournalistic career, and in this short interview with Marc Silber, he shares some of what he's learned about light and the art of photojournalism.
If you have a friend who just got into photography and they ask you to recommend a first lens to buy in addition to the standard kit lens, chances are very good you're going to tell them to go prime. Of course, their next question will inevitably be 'why?'
Given my interest in lifelong learning and skill-development, I often ask people which new skills they’re looking to learn. The most common response? “I want to be a better photographer”.
And for good reason! Few things evoke the instant emotional response a great photo does. It’s what made Instagram worth a billion dollars to Facebook.
For those of you who, like me, are looking to kick their photography skills up a notch, I’m curating a list of the best free online courses and resources I’ve found. So whether you’re a budding photojournalist looking toward a career behind the lens, or just a hobbyist looking to take better shots on your next trip, I’m hoping you’ll find something useful here!
If the term "inverse square law of light" immediately sets you to hyperventilating as flashbacks of college physics begin playing in your mind's eye, take a few breaths into that paper bag, calm down, and click play on the video above.
In 6 minutes, Karl Taylor will explain this law and how it affects you specifically as a photographer without overwhelming you in the process.
One of the advantages a beginner in any field has over an intermediate or professional who is trying to improve their craft, is that the beginner has nothing to unlearn. So while the idea of holding your camera correctly for better low-light shots might seem painfully basic, this is one of those fundamentals you'd rather learn right the first time.
In a sneaky move that the company probably hoped nobody would notice, Adobe turned on "Desktop App Usage Information" by default in the most recent update to Creative Cloud. This means that, unless they manually go in and disable the feature, CC users' app usage data is currently being shared with Adobe.
Fortunately, disabling the feature is pretty easy, assuming you don't want that info shared with Adobe.
Post-processing and lighting and camera tutorials are all good and well, but none of them are going to do anything for you if you don't have a good handle on composition. To that end, this basic two-part composition tutorial by Mike Browne will give you a solid foundation from which to start.