Many of the most iconic photographers have lived colorful and interesting lives, filled with events and encounters that have shaped their brilliant works. Such is what we can discern from the works of Sebastião Salgado, a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist known for his dramatic black and white photographs that explore man’s relationship with nature and with each other. If you’re discovering Sebastião Salgado’s works for the first time, prepare to be amazed and inspired. His timeless photographs remain relevant and captivating even for today’s budding photographers, so you’ll definitely enjoy this video primer on his life and work by Aidan Moneyhon. Here, you’ll hear Aidan briefly cover some important details about Salgado’s life, and get a glimpse of the imagery that earned him worldwide recognition.
There’s something about cities at night that get photographers prowling the streets in search of stories. Sometimes it’s the seemingly alternate world that comes to life when the sun sets and the city lights bathe everything in a different glow. Maybe it’s the way everything and everyone slows down and unwinds, making it easier to catch them unguarded for a candid moment. But for Switzerland-based fine art photographer Stefano Gardel, the darkness that envelopes the streets of London at night is particularly intriguing.
Do you want to add a touch of color on your portraits? You can create a really cool effect with the help of a simple trick using color gels. If you haven’t worked with them before, knowing what they can do will allow you to confidently play around with moods through colors. If you already …
Right now it is a two horse race in the medium format mirrorless game between Fujifilm’s GFX system and the Hasselblad X1D system. There are reasons for a photographer to choose either side and at this point, neither one has separated itself from the competition much. That said, if you have been considering these systems and are leaning towards the X1D, the today’s announcement from Hasselblad could be some great news for you.
There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t care about white balance in the same way that you care about manual control over the exposure of the image. The way that color is rendered in a photo can completely change the way that it appears and in order to get the absolute best color, you should use manual control over your white balance in the same way that you manually control the ISO, aperture and shutter speeds. While manufacturers sit there and try in vain to get better high ISO results and more dynamic range, they’re not giving us what can possibly provide for even more creative freedom: better color control. The majority of cameras don’t provide incredibly accurate color control or gradation from their sensors. Film arguably does a better job of this in the right situations but digital cameras are capable of getting pretty darned close to real results.
There have been lots of variations of the Gary Fong Lightsphere before, but the latest is called the Kobra and it’s taking the cake. The new light modifier is pledging to be a game changing light modifier–or at least that’s what they told us in an email. It’s essentially an on-camera flash cobra head shaped light modifier that more or less does exactly what the Gary Fong Lightsphere (and Chinese food tupperware) has done for years. To fund this project, they’re asking for $125,000; which comes out to 1/8th of a million dollars.
Lomography Color Negative 400 is one of those alternative color films that unfortunately isn’t spoken about enough. But in the right situations, there as times when I personally feel like it outdoes Kodak Portra 400 or at least proves to be a worthy alternative to both Kodak Portra 400 and Fujifilm Pro 400H. For those of you who consider yourselves to be penny pinchers, Lomography Lomography Color Negative 400 is often more affordable than the other two options on the market. And like the other options, it’s much more preferable to shoot it in 120 format vs 35mm.
Albert Watson has been a working photographer in New York City since 1976, where he began primarily as a commercial photographer, before finding his passion and transitioning into a more fine art look. You likely know him for his working fashion, or with celebrity portraits, or maybe one of the over 100 Vogue covers he has shot. Part of what made his work so incredible is his lighting.
Tomorrow, we’re going to be calibrating a desktop computer screen display Live on our Facebook page. Calibration is something that is pretty difficult for many photographers to understand and many just don’t do it. But you’d amazed at the benefits that can come to you once you calibrate your display. If you’re a photographer that prints regularly, this is really important but even if you’re just putting your images on the web, getting a properly calibrated screen can really help in both the editing process and the export process. In the most ideal of situations, you and the person/company that you’re shooting for will be seeing the same things.
For photographers, shutter speeds can mean everything. The advent of digital photography has made it easier to just leave the settings to the camera to get a clear and perfect shot. However, it pays to learn more about how your camera works, especially if it allows you the option to go full manual. Knowing how to set your shutter speed, for example, opens your photography to many creative applications. If you’re just getting started with photography, learning the technical side of things may seem daunting at first. But if you break it down to the essential concepts, such as finding out how shutter speeds work, it will be easier for you to apply them when you practice later on.