How to Not Let Shyness Get in the Way of Your Street Photography

Don’t let shyness keep you from doing street photography and shooting the photos you want.

Street photography is certainly one of the more challenging genres to get into, primarily because you need to adapt a certain mindset for it. Apart from that, you also need to get over your shyness (not introversion, as is the common misconception). You don’t want to miss those precious shots showing a vibrant slice of life in your city. If you think you’re too shy for street photography, Danish photographer Frederik Trovatten believes you’re not — and no one is. He explains this thoughtfully in a quick video.

Continue reading…

Film vs Digital: Can You Guess Which was Shot on Which?

Let’s see if your eyes have been trained to spot which shot was made on film as opposed to that of a mirrorless camera.

Yes, we hear you. We have yet another film vs. digital post, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with it. When commercial lifestyle photographer Steve Johnston shared this video with us, we found that he’s actually encouraging viewers to play a little game with him: which was was shot in film and which was shot with a mirrorless camera? Let’s find out.

Continue reading…

The Biggest Test of Any Photographer is Picking Their Best Images

Once someone told me that to present yourself as a good photographer, you have to be a great picture editor.

I wish I could tell you a deep anecdote about this person but I can’t remember who it was. What I remember well are the importance of those words especially when building and updating my portfolio. I’ve just gone through the long and painful process of updating my website. It’s a task I tend to do twice a year but the new year is when I do a massive clean-up refresh of all the content in it. Here’s when being a great picture editor comes into practice as I go through most of the final edits I’ve delivered during the past year.

Continue reading…

How to Edit Underexposed Natural Light Portraits on Lightroom and Photoshop

If you’re shooting a lot of natural light portraits, you might want to get some editing tips from this workflow tutorial if you like underexposing to retain details.

Whether you’re shooting more natural light portraits by choice or because of equipment constraints, it’s worth learning how to edit your photos from a variety of shooting conditions. Today, we’ve got a workflow video tutorial for you in case you often underexpose your photos to get more detail out of the scene or background.

Continue reading…

These Two Pro Photographers Share Their Tips on Posing Couples

All images by Vanessa Joy and Tracie Maglosky, used with permission.

One of the common challenges many portrait photographers will face at some point during their careers is how to best pose their subjects to capture them in their best light during a photoshoot. When photographing couples, things get more difficult because now you’ve got to worry about not one, but two subjects. We recently had the opportunity to speak with New Jersey-based wedding photographer Vanessa Joy as well as Cincinnati-based wedding and portrait photographer Tracie Maglosky, and these seasoned veterans generously shared some valuable insight into photographing and posing couples. Vanessa is perhaps best known for her wedding photography education work on top of being one of Profoto’s Legend of Light, and Tracie is one of Olympus’s Visionaries and a Profoto Legend of Light as well.

Continue reading…

Review: Masters of Photography With Albert Watson

Masters of Photography is back again with a new online course. This time you will be given in-depth knowledge from the prestigious fashion and portrait photographer, Albert Watson.

“From the first minute I picked up a camera I had that passion. And when I was shooting last week I still had that passion” says Watson. An opening statement that gives the student reassurance they’re about to learn from someone still enthusiastic about the art form. With our excitement bubbling over, let’s take a deeper look at Albert Watson’s Masters of Photography course…

Continue reading…

Cheap Lighting Options to Develop Your Portrait Photography Style

Still getting the hang of lighting for your portrait photography? Here are some lighting options that don’t break the bank.

We’ve said it time and time again — working with light is one of the first things you have to learn as a photographer, especially when it comes to shooting portraits. Since we can’t stress it enough, we bring you yet another video tutorial with some helpful suggestions for cheap lighting options that you can practice with. Learning how to light your portrait photography projects also often means working with different kinds of lighting in the studio. We understand if you’re still totally new to it and still aren’t comfortable using (or investing in) pro studio lights. In the meantime, you can practice with some cheaper alternatives.

Continue reading…

Cool Photography Tip: Shoot Levitation Photography With This Easy Trick!

Ever wondered how those cool snaps of floating objects were made? We have the answer in this easy levitation photography tip — and it’s probably something you weren’t expecting.

Looking for more novel ways and concepts to make your photography interesting? We got you covered with a neat and easy photography tip. Today, it’s about how to achieve those cool photos of objects seemingly floating. Whether it’s for a unique product shot or a magical concept shoot, we’re sure you’ll find some use for this quick levitation photography trick!

Continue reading…

How to Never Take a Blurry Photo Ever Again as a Result of Camera Shake

Photographers of all skill levels can benefit from learning how to take less blurry photos.

While some photographers will tell you that shooting a camera is often like shooting a gun and that it has to do with your breathing, they couldn’t be any further from telling you only a partial truth. There’s a whole lot more that goes into shooting an image and maintaining a lack of blur caused by camera shake. It depends on a number of factors that image and sensor stabilization alone aren’t really going to help you out on. The saying goes something like “It’s not about the camera, it’s about how you use it.” To that end, the technology inside the camera and lenses can help you, but they’re still not completely responsible for getting a camera-shake-free photo. So here are some tips to help you out.

Continue reading…

Portrait Photographers: Here’s an Easy Trick for Posing ANYONE

Still getting the hang of posing your subjects and getting the expressions you want? Here’s a neat trick for you to try when you go shoot portraits today!

Great portraits aren’t just technically sound, but also highlight the most interesting details and personality of the subject. This is why much of it depends on the poses and expressions which in turn depends mostly on you as a photographer. Not everyone can strike a pose like a professional model, but you can certainly get ANYONE to pose for a striking portrait. All you need is this easy trick.

Continue reading…

Editors Explain How to Pitch Your Photography Project to a Publication

For the photographer looking for exposure with their photography project, here are some tips on how to get the attention of editors.

For every photographer, there is a clear designation between paid, commissioned work and work that you need to do for exposure of some sort. If you’re looking to get the word out about a new project or yourself, it’s often a great idea to allow publications to feature you. Ethically speaking, it’s often a bad idea to pitch yourself and then demand payment simply because a story is about you and there is a practice in journalistic integrity to not pay for information. If your images are part of a great piece though, then it makes a whole lot of sense to ask for a licensing fee. With that out of the way, I highly suggest that any time that you have some sort of new project done and ready to use not only the power of social media and email to get the word out, but also publications. Gatekeepers often look at publications to help them find new talent and your work could be right on that list.

Continue reading…

How to Get the Colors in Your Portraits to Pop With Less Work

If the colors in your portraits are bland, then try something else.

One of the biggest problems that photographers have when it comes to portraiture can be dealing with the colors. The simple way to do this is to simply just shoot during the golden hour, but that takes away a major part of the creative process. Making the colors in your image pop not only has to do with effective placement, but it also has to do with their tones, the lighting, and your processing. Let’s delve further!

Continue reading…

The Noob Photographer’s Introduction to HSL Adjustments

Working with the HSL panel to edit your images is the best way to go about it.

RAW photo editing gives you near limitless possibilities to fine-tune the White Balance, Exposure, HSL (Hue, Saturation, and Lightness/Luminance), as well as a myriad of other values, allowing you to create a final image that matches your unique aesthetic and vision. Most photographers begin by working with just the basic adjustments panel. But in recent years, photographers have been working with the other options that are afforded to them. Ever seen an image that looks like it’s duotone? Well, chances are that the HSL panel helps that happen in some way or another when combined with other tweaks.

Continue reading…

Quick Lighting Tip: How Light Diffusion Can Sometimes Kill Details in a Photo

Is diffusion always a good thing when it comes to photography?

Diffusion: in regards to photography, this is the softening of light as it pertains to the quality of it. There is hard light which is often much less diffused while soft light is very diffused. Diffusion can break things known as specular highlights–which are little bits of light and details that come out due to the illumination found with light. Flash duration and a number of other things also play a role. But with diffusion, light’s super powers can be nullified.

Continue reading…

The Beginner’s Guide To Shooting Street Portraits (Part 3)

If you’ve been following this guide to shooting street portraits then you’re already on your way to becoming a legitimate street portrait photographer. It’s now time to get you over the line…

By now you should have gathered some experience in approaching people in the street and asking them if you can take their portrait. Through using the tips and techniques listed in part 1 and part 2,  hopefully, your confidence has grown – both in taking street portraits and communicating with people.  I’m sure there have been some difficult encounters along the way, just know that’s all part of the learning process. As we bring this beginners guide to a close we are going to take a closer look at what makes a compelling street portrait and how to end the interaction with your subject.

Continue reading…

Everything You Need to Know About Smoke Bomb Photography

This is a syndicated blog post from Format magazine. A number of the Phoblographer’s staffers prefer them over others for website building.

Smoke bombs can be a great way to add a blast of color to your next photoshoot. Here are some tips on how to get the most out of your smoke bomb photography.

Smoke bomb photography has exploded in popularity lately. In fact, smoke photography has become so trendy that even wedding photographers are using smoke bombs as a way to spice up their wedding photos.

Continue reading…

A Warming Lens Filter vs a Warm Filter in Photoshop – Which is Better?

A lens filter can help you get images right in camera, but do they work as well as Photoshop filters?

There’s no doubt about the fact that programs like Lightroom, Capture One, and Photoshop have changed the photography world, but are the changes always for the better? The guys over at NegativeFeedback recently started applying a warming filter to their images in Photoshop, and for the most part the effect was liked. After thinking about things, and after doing a little research, a decision was made to buy a warming lens filter to see if the effect from the analog filter would be better than its digital counterpart. Continue reading…

What Do the Markings on Your SD Cards Mean? Let’s Figure This Out.

Those numbers and markings on your SD cards are actually pretty important.

SD cards have really revolutionized the world of photography. Thanks to their small size, and their ever expanding capacities, these little marvels enable us to shoot for hours on end. Once were done shooting they allow us quick, easy access to the hundreds, and sometimes thousands of images that are stored on them without any fuss. However it’s important to know that not all SD cards are created equal. Do you know how to pick the right SD cards for the job at hand? Continue reading…

The Beginner’s Guide To Shooting Street Portraits (Part 2)

“Taking a picture is very technical, but 99.9% is spent on this connection that allows me to reach someone”. Platon.

Welcome back to the second instalment of The Beginner’s Guide To Shooting Street Portraits. Last week we defined what street portraits are, looked at how you should approach a subject and the best ways to handle rejection. This week we’re going to take your knowledge a step further. We will cover ways you can make your subject feel relaxed, and also what settings you should be using when taking a street portrait. Of course, we want you to get hands-on practice, so expect us to send you away at the end with a little challenge to focus on.

View Part 1 here.

Continue reading…

Things to Keep in Mind When Shooting with Expired Film

Expired film is still workable as long as you know how to work with it and have an idea what to expect with the results. 

They probably don’t know it, but the retro, dreamy look that a lot of people associate with film photography is usually caused by expired film. You can call some of the results as happy accidents, but that doesn’t change the fact that expired film is tricky to shoot with. If you’re drawn to film photography because of this look, we suggest watching this video before you start hoarding expired film.

Continue reading…

The Beginner’s Guide To Shooting Street Portraits (Part 1)

Taking a portrait of a complete stranger is extremely liberating. However, to do them successfully, street portraits take skill, confidence and good intuition.

I’m often asked about my process when it comes to photographing strangers. How do I approach someone? What if they say no? Should I shoot in manual mode? These are just a few of the questions I receive as people want to start their own journey in street portraiture. Determined to support you, I’m putting together a 3 part guide to help develop your approach to street portraits.

Continue reading…