Why Shooting Large Format Makes it So Hard to Go Back to 35mm

After shooting 35mm for a number of years I was intrigued by the higher resolution, and richer images produced by medium format cameras. I was a sucker for that ratio you get from a 6×7 negative too, but after seeing Joel Meyerowitz’ book Between the Dog and Wolf, my intrigue in larger formats began to build. “Why go medium when you can go large,” I thought? So I took the plunge, started researching eBay and the Large Format Photography forum (a great resource), and managed to find a kit for sale.

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This Facebook Ads Course Will Help Photographers Solve Their Facebook Woes

Professional photographers: Pay attention

Have you caught yourself thinking anything along the lines of ‘Facebook isn’t worth my time from a business perspective anymore’? It’s true, the Facebook game has changed, and the days of seemingly endless organic reach and customers are over. However, if you think that means you shouldn’t be utilizing Facebook for marketing and promoting your business then you are mistaken. Continue reading…

Tips For Shooting Better Natural Light Images Indoors (NSFW)

Working with natural light is one of those things that most photographers start with before moving on into other lighting techniques like speedlights or strobes. But funny enough, natural light is one of those lighting techniques that can be really difficult for some to get a handle on. In this post we are going to go over some of our top tips for getting better natural light photos indoors by seeing your light, understanding it and then harnessing it and bending it to your will.

Let’s make natural light your bitch! Continue reading…

Dear Adobe and Google: Please Come Up With a Better Way for Photographers to Protect Their Images

Dearest Adobe and Google;

This is a relatively open letter to you folks: the big corporations that try to foster the needs of photographers, videographers, content creators, designers, digital media specialists, etc, through a few key platforms you’ve created. Earlier this year, you, Google, showed off a way that many photographers can have their watermarks easily removed from photos. This is even further insult to the fact that many popular image sharing platforms have for years stripped out metadata and copyright information from images just so that a server could save some space.

So if this is the case, why can’t either of you come up with a way to protect the very lifeblood and community who, in some ways, fostered your growth?

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Travel and Landscape Photography is Deeply Therapeutic to Me

My name is Ethan Chin. I’m a 17 year old landscape and travel photographer from Toronto, Canada. I started shooting landscapes seriously a little over a year ago. I got into landscapes photography specifically because I love the slow-pace of it, and the peace that comes with being alone in the great outdoors.

I got into photography because of my cousin. She shot a lot of photos of her trips, and I noticed her images looked vastly better than my those from my smartphone at the time, and I wanted something better. That first camera I bought turned into an absolute obsession and soon enough, I found myself reading countless blogs (including the Phoblographer), participating in forums and watching tutorials in order to hone my skills. At it’s core, I got into photography simply for the desire for something better.

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Quick Tips on Making the Most of Your 50mm Lens for Portraits

50mm lenses are among the most popular out there, in large part because of their relative ease of use in virtually any situation or niche of photography, but also thanks to their affordability compared to other lenses photographers may be considering. But let’s say that you just added a 50mm lens to your kit, how could you make the most of it if you were, say, a portrait photographer?

If you are asking that question then this is the post for you. Continue reading…

Tips For Experimenting on Personal Shoots the Right Way (NSFW)

I am a firm believer that personal creative shoots are key to photographers growing and pushing themselves forward with their skills. The key to getting better isn’t buying more expensive equipment or binge watching online tutorials. It is getting out there, getting your hands dirty, and using the equipment you have to get the image you see in your mind through trial and error. You can experiment here and there in a shoot for a client, but you still must produce the images the client is after, so too much experimentation during a paid shoot is not a great idea. For this reason, starting a personal project, or scheduling a trade shoot with another local creative is almost always the better option. During a personal creative shoot, you have the entire shoot to experiment with every aspect of your image, and you don’t have to worry about screwing up – you can plan on screwing up.

However, there are good ways and bad ways to experiment, and if you want to get the most out of your personal creative shoots, be that better images or more experience, then you should make sure and consider the following things when planning it out. Continue reading…

The Art of Cosplay: How to Photograph Cosplayers

This time, I’d like to tell you about a very cool genre within portraiture: Cosplay Photography. If you’re not familiar with it, Cosplay is a HUGE cult inside geek culture where people make costumes and dress up as their favorite characters from comic books, movies, video games and more. You often see it at conventions like Comic Con, Dragon Con, Wonder Con, etc. People either buy costumes or work for a really long time putting them together. Lots of famous cosplayers have big Instagram and Facebook followings. Cosplay photography has a huge community and following all over the world and it’s a field of specialty in portraiture photography and graphic design. There are different levels of Cosplay photography, from simple portraits at comic conventions to sessions in studios or on location. Editing is a big thing with Cosplay photography as many photographers spend hours creating fantasy backgrounds, locations and effects to make the photos look more like the source of inspiration.

Cosplay photography is super cool and fun to get into but before I explain that, let me tell you how I got into geek culture.

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