Summertime offers photographers a great opportunity for outdoor portraiture, and the tutorial below illustrates a simple technique for using Photoshop to add something special to your images.
Waves occupy a high position on my favorite photographic subjects list. First, I feel a natural emotional connection to them. Second, they offer a lot of ways I can portray that connection. Give me a subject that provides lots of possibilities and creative challenges, and I'm there.
Years ago I took a photograph of prayer flags at a Buddhist monastery in Bhutan, and as I was shooting the image I wished I could also shoot video to record the movement of the flags and the sound they made as they danced in the wind.
Tony Sweet says that smartphone photography “isn’t officially part of the show” at his photography workshops, but the subject does come up with increasing frequency. “They’ll do their big camera work first,” Sweet says of the students, “then they’ll pull out the phones and shoot a few things, discuss among themselves, and ask me some questions.”
[Column Note: Most people come to professional photography by traveling a familiar route: from an early fascination with cameras, to photo classes and courses, followed by assisting a pro to gain some real-world experience. Then comes striking out on one's own as photographer, which, if all goes well, is followed by the frequent printing of invoices. Others, however, arrive at a pro career sideways—that is, coming at it from another occupation. The stories these "second career" pro photographers tell tend to be quite interesting, even inspirational. And those stories are what this new online column, titled Going Pro, is all about.]
Sometimes we can't choose the time of day when we come across a beautiful landscape scene. So we take a few shots, despite the terrible midday light, and our images seem destined for the trash.
While this image by 18-year-old photographer Dylan Meffan might look beautifully tranquil, capturing it was a bit of a nerve-wracking experience for him. The reason? The dog.
In these days of HDR, Lightroom, and Photoshop, is there still any point in carrying around Graduated Neutral Density (GND) filters? Often at photographic overlooks I hear photographers banging away with their cameras, shooting multiple exposures for future HDR images, while I nail the same scene in a single shot. More than once I have had one of these photographers scoff at me for using my “old school” GND filter, asking, “Ever heard of HDR?” While I am a firm believer in using all the tools available to me, including HDR, I feel that HDR is either unnecessary or won’t work in situations where multiple images are not possible, such as an action shot.
Gabe Rogel gets a kick out of viewers’ reactions to his photographs. “It’s fun,” he says, “to watch people look at the pictures and realize, Oh, you had to be there, too!”
Summer is a good time to get outdoors and shoot macro photographs of insects, flowers and other tiny critters. And best yet, you rarely have to venture beyond your backyard to find a variety of interesting subjects.
We're not suggesting that you head outside during a blizzard or hurricane, but be aware that some great photo opportunities can occur when the weather is less than perfect. Don't get into the habit of taking pictures only when the sun's out—many a great image was taken during a clearing storm...
One reason tutorials from photographer Vincent Ledvina are so fascinating, is that he uses his animation skills to make camera settings and shooting techniques understandable—usually in two minutes or less. In his new video below, the Minnesota-based photo instructor explains how to make enchanting photographs of the moon.
Now that the days are getting longer and summer is barely two weeks away photographers are spending more time outdoors, often shooting under less than ideal light. In the video below portrait photographer Manny Ortiz demonstrates how to take amazing portraits in high-contrast situations when the sun is high in the sky.
Photographers are known for chasing the latest and greatest gear, despite the adage that, “It’s the photographer—not the camera—that creates the image.” I’ll admit to owning a couple “state-of-the art” digital cameras myself. But my photo cabinet also includes a few “obsolete” models dating back to 2009.
David Bergman is a NY-based photographer well known for his sports, celebrity, and concert images, and in the video below he’ll teach you how to harness the power of panoramic photography in less than three minutes.