Anyone who has trawled through a historic photo archive knows the feeling of spotting a large-format photo. Like spotting a beautiful woman in a crowd, it’s hard to drag your eyes away. That depth and clarity, which seems to top reality itself, has only ever been possible with a film plane measured in inches rather than millimeters.
Back in February of this year, I began making a huge transition from the Drobo NAS system (now out of business) to the newer and far superior QNAP system. Back then I had just installed the two new NAS systems but had not moved any data.
Quick question: what’s the best lens for photographing wildlife at different distances? A telephoto zoom, of course, because then you can zoom for the focal length and framing you want. But if that’s true, then why did I take a fixed telephoto with me on the safari I just led to Africa? Because, paired with two teleconverters and one camera feature, it actually gave me MORE focal lengths to work with. Let me explain…
I've wanted to experiment with the idea of imbuing a print with more than just standard chemistry, and I especially like the idea of adding layers of experience to what is ordinarily solely a visual medium.
As a creative, it is very likely that you have at least once, shot photographs the analog way and used a film camera of some kind. But how much do you know about how that film camera works, or better yet, how the film is made?
A couple of years ago I have been occasionally shooting 35mm films with point-and-shoot still cameras while also having the desire to shoot motion picture films.
On March 23rd, 2023, Earth got hit by the strongest geomagnetic storm in six years. I was out executing my unique aurora shot of the year, titled The Platform.
2,692. That’s how many full wedding ceremonies wedding photographer Matthew Solis alone has photographed in the past five years, and yes, you read that number right.
I had the Mamiya RB67 and Pentax 67 on my medium-format wanted list for many years now, but I simply could not justify the price tag or bear the unfortunate realization that either camera would sit lonely and unused on a shelf. That all changed in December 2022 when I decided to grab a non-working RB67 as a Christmas Present for my eldest brother.
No doubt most of us have found ourselves in the following situation... You’ve discovered a beautiful landscape scene that you’ve carefully composed in your camera’s viewfinder. Your camera is on a tripod and there’s no wind, so you’re feeling confident that you’ll be able to capture everything in one shot with both a small aperture and a slow shutter speed. Things are looking great!
Landscape photography at 70 mph. Is it even possible? For years the idea of landscape photography was to put your camera on a tripod, frame very carefully, then wait for the light to be perfect before you shot. But what if you had to do everything in exactly the opposite way?
The film photography revival is going strong but these pictures don’t just magically appear out of thin air! Eventually you need to develop your film so I put together this step-by-step guide to process black and white negatives at home. It’s easier than you might think!
A stunning green comet will be visible from Earth in the coming days, even with the naked eye, giving photographers an opportunity to capture the comet that won't appear again for another 50,000 years.
One of the challenges of photographing landscapes is creating images that reflect the right amount of depth and dimension. But sometimes it seems no matter how hard you try and how often you hear well-meaning advice from other photographers, the photos you take almost always come out darn flat.
Charlotte, North Carolina, is nicknamed the Queen City, after Queen Charlotte. I moved to Charlotte from Frankfurt, Germany in July 1992. That was not just the year but also the month that the Bank of America (BofA) building was completed. The 871ft (265m) skyscraper is the tallest building in the Southern United States outside of Atlanta or Texas, with its “royal” crown on the top.
A photographer in Wisconsin has captured a series of stunning photos of a fox after the curious creature decided to take a closer look at his homemade camera trap.
Released in 1971, the Polaroid Big Shot was a funky, green plastic camera that was built for one thing: portraits. The plastic behemoth is simply designed, using a fixed focus 200mm, single-element plastic meniscus lens.
This nomadic portrait studio tent was our world for many years. Step inside and I will show you a world of beauty, adventure... and even heartbreak.
Portrait retouching can get overwhelming sometimes with the steps you need to take to make your shots look absolutely perfect. Maybe these steps aren't that hard, but they can definitely be very time-consuming, so finding any way to speed this process up to make better and more efficient use of your time is a high priority for every photographer. Using Luminar Neo to tackle these steps can make retouching a breeze using just a few tools and leveraging some of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) built into the application.
Having been a wedding photographer for the past fifteen years, I’ve seen my fair share of white wedding dresses, but before focusing on weddings, I was fortunate enough to gain a little experience in the fashion industry, shooting for magazines, working backstage at fashion shows, and covering both London and Paris Fashion Weeks.
Creating spec ads is an incredible way to grow as a filmmaker and photographer for two reasons: It allows you to build your portfolio It forces you to think outside the box and create projects that would appeal to the brands you would love to work with you one day.
As creatives, more specifically as a photographer and filmmaker, we tend to get gigs all over the city. From big production to small, low-budget clients, our commute can be taxing, especially with increased gas prices.
Film set the photographic standard in more ways than one. The contact sheet, for example, once an essential aspect of the film process, has survived the transition to digital. Although it serves a slightly different purpose these days, the contact sheet can help you see the results of a shoot and make your best photos easier to share.
I’ve used poly-boards, bounce-boards, and even white sheets and white walls as lighting modifiers to soften the light in the past, but arguably the quickest and most efficient way to instantly achieve beautifully soft light, is the V-Flat.
It will come as shock to no one that digital cameras are as complex as the manufacturing processes that make them. Thanks to the wizardry of Steven Sasson, our photographic pursuits are inextricably linked to the cold mass of integrated circuits, photovoltaic diodes, and the other discrete components that make up our modern tools.
PhotoPills is a planning tool to help you create images of the Sun, Moon, stars, meteors, and more. It can help you decide the best place to focus for maximum depth of field and calculate the correct exposure when using a neutral density filter to blur water, clouds, and other subjects. What's more, you can use it from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection to plan a photo shoot anywhere else in the world.
While most people go out of their way to avoid snakes, we’re the opposite. We’re crazy about snakes. As wildlife photographers, we’ve spent months in the Australian bush and in overseas jungles tracking down beautiful snakes.
Removing unwanted objects and text out of an image to clean up your photo used to require special software and skills, but these days AI has led to features like Content-Aware Fill in Photoshop that lets anyone do it in just a few clicks. If you do not have a Photoshop subscription, there is a free Web and mobile app called Cleanup.pictures you can use.
I recently shot a photograph of the Andromeda Galaxy that went viral, appearing everywhere from the front page of Reddit to Newsweek. The photo was taken with a four-inch telescope over the course of multiple nights from my backyard near Charlottesville, Virginia, US.
Photographer Corrine Gretton-West booked a wet plate workshop with me before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Two years later we were finally able to do it.
