The Long Wait for a Chance to Photograph the Wolverine
I recently wrapped up six days of personal photography in northern Finland (in "no man's land" on the Russian border) trying to photograph the wolverine in winter.
A History of the Yosemite Firefall and Tips for Photographing It
Each year from summer of 1872, the owners of Glacier Point hotel started the event of Yosemite Firefall. For seven nights a week, they would spill hot embers from Glacier Point down to the valley 3000 feet below. The event ended in 1968 when the National Park Service ordered it to stop because the overwhelming number of visitors that it attracted overwhelmed the meadows, and because it was not a natural event. NPS wanted to preserve the Valley, returning it to its natural state.
How to Clean Your Mirrorless Camera Sensor: Tools, Tactics, Tips, and Tricks
Seeing spots in your photos? Your camera's sensor might need a cleaning. If you'd like to go a do-it-yourself route and beyond a simple bulb blower, Michael The Maven made this 13-minute video walkthrough on how you can go about cleaning a mirrorless camera sensor.
Photographer Captures Hikers as High-Fashion Models on a 2,653-Mile Hike
Photographer Tommy Corey spent months thru-hiking the 2,653-mile Pacific Crest Trail that spans California, Oregon, and Washington. Along the way, he photographed his fellow long-distance hikers as though they were high-fashion models. The project is called Hiker Trash Vogue, and Corey's beautiful 7-minute video above tells the story of how it came to be.
My Quest to Photograph the Most Elusive Cat in Africa
Since childhood, I have been fascinated by stories of black panthers. For me, no animal is shrouded in more mystery, no animal more elusive, and no animal more beautiful. For many years they remained the stuff of dreams and of far-fetched stories told around the campfire at night. Nobody I knew had ever seen one in the wild and I never thought that I would either. But that didn’t stop me dreaming…
The $10 Backdrop: Cheap vs Expensive Seamless for Portraits
Photography. It’s expensive. And who really has the money to buy all the name brand photo gear? I certainly don’t. With that said, expensive equipment does NOT make the photograph -- the photographer does, which is why I am exploring various non-photography-specific gear and using it for my photography.
Creating a Photo of a Radical Vegan Zombie Activist
It has been said that meat consumption should decrease by 90% in the West if we want to avoid dangerous climate warming. And because all of us should be involved to achieve this goal, I of course decided to invite zombies to join in the effort of combating climate change.
What It’s Like Attending a Best Buy Photography Workshop
After I saw an ad on Facebook about an upcoming Best Buy photography workshop, I got the idea to attend it, and I thought other photographers would be interested in the experience, too. I signed up, paid the $50 to attend the workshop, and got an email confirming my registration.
Documenting Cosplay Culture in the UK
Long-term projects can be one of the most frustrating creative pursuits for a number of reasons. There is a large investment of time, obviously, but there can also be the uncertainty of where a story goes as you watch it unfold over years, while constantly adjusting and readjusting the scope of the issues you want to deal with in your stories.
Triple Processing a Single RAW Photo
Occasionally when examining a RAW file I get a reasonably clear idea on how I would like the end result to be. In this instance, I had an inner picture of trees glowing from the sun, rather dark shadows, and a sky with nice color contrast.
Apple’s New iPad Pro Ads Were Shot and Made Entirely on the iPad Pro
Apple recently released a new series of ads for the iPad Pro that shows how the tablet computer opens the doors to new ways of doing things. What's neat is that Apple is "eating its own dog food": as the 2-minute behind-the-scenes video above reveals, the ads were shot, edited, animated, designed, and composed entirely on the iPad Pro.
I Designed and 3D-Printed My Own LED Softbox
I got my first 3D printer recently, but it sits in a dark corner of my room, so I thought I'd design a light for it. Then I realized I could kill two birds with one stone and design it to be useful for photography as well.
This $6 Flea Market Projector Lens is Surprisingly Great for Portraits
While browsing a flea market, photographer Mathieu Stern came across an old slide projector and managed to buy the Rollei 90mm f/2.4 MC lens mounted to it for just €5 (~$5.70). With a little bit of ingenuity and effort, Stern converted it into a camera lens and found that it's a terrific lens for shooting portraits.
My First Shoot with a Fine Art Photography Collective
I’m always looking to find new ways to incorporate larger goals into my photography. I find it focuses my approach to the way I treat it as a career and a hobby. By dedicating myself to projects outside of things relevant to my life, I am able to explore potential new ways of seeing and interacting the world through my camera. Something I’ve always been interested in is the idea of photography collectives; a group of visual artists with shared philosophies, spaces, and resources.
Shooting a B-2 Stealth Bomber Flying Over the Rose Bowl
Ten years ago, in January 2009, was the first time I ever photographed a flyover and this year the same pilot was doing his last Rose Bowl flyover as he is retiring from the Air Force this year. The challenge this year was the strong winds and subsequent turbulence.
I Built a Replica Chinese Takeout Restaurant in My Photo Studio
My name is Nicky Hamilton, I’m a photographer from London. In-between commercial work I produce fine art photography, specializing in cinematic set builds, which unlike my commercial work is done solo, the set design, build, photography, styling, and retouching. It started this way as a means to an end but then blossomed to become a meditative process that’s creatively very fulfilling for me.
Create Impossible Photos with a Lighting Composite
“Do you have 9 lights?” The account manager at Oakland University asked me. Somewhat inspired by a Queen album cover, he was looking to create an image where 9 award-winning students stood out in a dramatized version of a newly renovated space on campus. While I understood the goal of the session, I immediately knew rigging 9 lights up would be nearly impossible while showing such a vast space. I told him that it may take some time, but I could get it done with just 2 lights.
Dissecting the Shot: A Long-Exposure Photo of London’s East India Station
In this article, I am going to dissect how I took an image from both a technical and narrative standpoint. I hope this gives you some ideas for your own photography.
A Day in the Life of a Kiwi Police Officer Photographer
The Auckland, New Zealand police department posted this interesting 9-minute behind-the-scenes video that shows a day in the life of a Kiwi Police Photographer.
Backpacking the World with a 500mm Prime Lens
6 months ago, my girlfriend and I finally did what we had always dreamed of doing: quitting our jobs and traveling the world. This is a relatively normal narrative for western couples in their 20s, but the difference here is I am a passionate wildlife photographer.
Capturing the Milky Way Over Yosemite National Park
Back in June of 2018, I was fortunate enough to make a 9-day trip to Yosemite National Park, California to capture the Milky Way galaxy over Half Dome. My entire trip revolved around capturing this image since I had captured nearly this same panorama two years prior during my first ever trip to the park in 2016.
Tell a Story to Get Great Portrait Poses from Ordinary People
Want to learn how to get your portrait subjects to give you the poses and expressions you're going for? Photographer Miguel Quiles made this helpful 11-minute video in which he shares one of his best tricks: getting subjects to play a character.
This is Leica’s Official Sensor Cleaning Process
Want to see how Leica does its official digital camera sensor cleanings? Here's a 20-minute video that steps through the process.
Shooting a Portrait with Four Gelled Lights
After recently sharing a portrait on social media, I was asked by a lot of people to write a breakdown on how I achieved the shot.
What it Was Like to be a Photographer in 1865
Back in 1865, if you wanted to be a photographer, you needed to be patient, determined, and a bit crazy (not all that different from today, though for different reasons). As an artist and photographer, exploring new methods and mediums is an important part of the journey.
5 Steps to Shooting a Photo of a $2.75 Million Sports Car
How do you go about shooting one of the rarest sports cars in the world? Here's a 17-minute tutorial in which automotive photographer Mike D'Ambrosio shares the 5 steps of his "night flare" style while shooting a $2.75 million Maserati MC12.
Shooting New Portraits of My Family, From Idea to Framing
In our hallway, we have some family portraits of our kids, but the portraits were taken some years ago -- time for some new ones! But we would also like to hang the portraits of their partners. The previous portraits were color portraits, and this time I would like to do some black and whites. So the challenge is taking seven portraits, each with the same look and feel. This is how I did it.
How to Photograph Mysterious Floating Scrabble Letters
This past month, a student showed me an Instagram post with floating scrabble letters and asked me how it was done. After a few moments of reflection, I decided there was a number of ways to photograph floating letters and it would be a great idea for a student lab. To explore different techniques would be a great lab. The students evaluated the techniques to see which was best for creating floating letters.
The Bucket Shot: Peter McKinnon’s Journey to Shooting His Dream Photo
Growing up as a skateboarder and BMX biker, Peter McKinnon never thought he would one day become a creative. But after he received a camera, he was bitten by the photography bug and got hooked. This 23-minute short film, titled "The Bucket Shot," tells the story of McKinnon's life journey to shooting the photo of his dreams.
Light Painting with a Paper Tube and a Shower Curtain Dress
After our flight to NYC got canceled last summer, we got stuck in Chicago for one night with no light painting tubes, no dress, no tripods, and no battery chargers. During the shuttle ride to the hotel, we started joking about using a bed sheet to fake a dress and to use whatever we could find in the hotel room as a light-painting tool.