Hot Photography Posts
How To: Create Stunning Double Exposure Portraits with Your DSLR Camera (No Photoshop Required)
There are plenty of ways to take double exposure photos, even if all you have is your cell phone. If you have access to a darkroom (or Photoshop), you can do it by stacking negatives. But if you have the right kind of DSLR, you can do it right from your camera by using the multiple exposure setting.
How To: Turn a Styrofoam Bowl into a DIY Beauty Dish for Your Camera's Flash
A beauty dish is a device that redistributes the flash on your camera to make the lighting more flattering in portraits. It's called a "beauty dish" because it's used most commonly in fashion and beauty photography.
How To: Make a Canon Shutter Release Cable
This article will show you how to make a shutter release cable for a Canon camera. It took me about half an hour once all of my materials were gathered. I came in at a total of about eight dollars. It has three switches and buttons. The black button on mine triggers the auto focus. The red button triggers the shutter. Finally, the switch triggers the bulb mode, or long exposure. This can be used to take astronomical photos that show the movement of the stars in the picture. The release cable ...
How To: An Extensive Guide to Creating Bokeh Photography
Bokeh (which translates to "blur" in Japanese) is a photography technique referring to the blurred areas of a photograph. Basic bokeh photographs often have one point of focus, while the background falls away into a dreamy, blurred haze.
News: From Puppy to Adult in 40 Seconds (+ 3 Methods for Creating Time-Lapse)
What's cuter than a puppy? Not much, especially when you omit all the peeing, barking and furniture chewing, as Remedie Studio did with this sweet time-lapse homage to their beloved pup. Below, watch Dunder the German Shepherd grow from 8 weeks old to 1 year in 40 seconds. Inspired? Make your own time-lapse video and post it to the WonderHowTo company blog. We'll show off the best ones. Here are three different methods to get you started:
News: Conjuring the Apocalypse on Tabletop: Lori Nix Talks Dioramas
Lori Nix is a photographer whose stunning work depicts curious scenes of danger and disaster: abandoned spaces, architecture in a state of extreme deterioration, natural calamities, and more. But the mysterious places she captures with her 8x10 large format camera aren't actual found locations—they're meticulously fabricated miniature dioramas.
Human Mutation Through Age: Year 0 To 100 Side-By-Side
Luckily for us, human aging is a long, slow process. One day newborn babe... 36,500 days later, you're old. Really old. And how you looked in between is all but forgotten. To see a side-by-side mapping of the long and slow human mutation process, check out Danish photojournalists Sofia Wraber and Nanna Kreutzmann's 101 photographs of males, ages 0 to 100.
How To: Make picture frames out of cardboard boxes
Take a few old cardboard boxes or packing boxes and recycle them into snazzy and cool photograph frames. All you need, apart from the boxes is some tape, string, a little wrapping paper for decoration - and, of course, some scissors and the photograph you want to frame.
How To: Take striking pictures with telephoto lenses for digital SLR photography
There's a technique available for digital SLR cameras that most amateur photographers do not know about, or do not use correctly, and that's using a simple telephoto lens (long lens) to create blurry background, great portraits or awesome up-close macro shots. Without the telephoto lens, you lose a lot of the emphasis on your subject, because the background blends in, whereas telephoto lenses help create a degree of depth, blurring out the background, giving concentration on the foreground. I...
How To: Take evenly lit professional high definition photos
You can take high resolution photos with just about any digital SLR, but whether these high resolution photos turn out impressive depends on setting, lighting, and the compliance of your subjects to pose. While photographing your friends and family in everyday life has these aforementioned conditions already set for you, if you take photos in the studio many factors can be adjusted to your liking.
How To: Set up and take a portrait with a digital camera
Taking really professional-looking portrait is a tricky business, which is why so many people are so well-paid for doing so. If you want to create similar results without hiring the professional, this two-part video will give you some handy tips for how to do it. It includes how to frame the shot, some equipment and props that you will need, and other techniques. Never pay hundred of dollars for a professional Christmas card photo again!
How To: Process large-format sheet film in trays
In the digital age, old fashioned film processing and developing may seem outmoded and obsolete. However, for professional and aspiring professional photographer who want o make classic-looking prints, this is far from the case. This three-part video describes how to do tray processing yourself for large-format sheets. It breaks down the equipment you will need, the advantages and disadvantages, and of course how to go about processing you own film sheets. The dark room is back!
News: DIY Peekfreak Cameras Made with Household Rubbish
Peekfreak is a collaborative project between industrial designer Wai Lam and photographer Yann Huey, both hailing from Malaysia. The aim of the project is create experimental cameras made from household junk (such as plastic food containers, discarded bicycle parts, and floppy disks).
How To: Use a Polaris incident light meter
In this Fine Art video tutorial you will learn how to use a Polaris incident light meter. The meter has a power, mode, ISO control and a multi flash exposure buttons. On the side you have the up / down and the trigger buttons. Power on the light meter. Select the mode, say ambient light and then set the ISO by pressing the ISO button and the up/down button. Now using only the up/down button, set the shutter speed. Then place the meter under your chin to meter the light on your face. Press the...
How To: Use the Manfrotto Super Clamp
Did you ever have trouble keeping a steady shot with a camera or camcorder when you didn't have a tripod ready? In this video, Steve from Cameras Brookwood shows you why a Manfrotto Super Clamp might just be the tool for you. A Super Clamp can open up to three inches and attaches any camera weighing up to fifteen kilograms to a post, beam, or table. To use the Super Clamp, open it fully and place it around the object that you want to attach it to. Turn the crank until the Super Clamp is snug,...
How To: Walk like a male / female model on the catwalk
Are you interested in fashion? Let's try a catwalk. For guys, walk straight and the feet shouldn't cross while walking. For girls, walk with one foot in front of the other, look straight forward and shoulders should pull back. Walk with your hands on the hip or let loose. There must be attitude on both the boy as well as the girl which will create a niche. This will help in launching your fashion career as well as maintain your posture.
News: Spy With Google Street View
Need to find some directions? No problem, use Google Maps. Want to find some spy photos of yourself? No problem, use Google Street View.
News: Take Pictures With Your Mouth-Camera
Justin Quinnell has created a series of pinhole photographs taken from the perspective of an open mouth. Pinholes can be disposable, flexible and pretty simple to make. Play around and see what kind of interesting perspectives you can come up with...
How To: Take an HDR photo with a Nikon D50 digital camera
See how to take an HDR photo set (three photos, each with different exposures) using a Nikon D50 digital SLR camera. This how-to video includes a walk through of the settings you should use to take the high dynamic range imaging photo. It pretty much works the same on most digital SLR cameras, so pay attention to this video tutorial.
How To: Assemble a softbox in the photo studio
This one minute video shows how a softbox and speed ring are assembled quickly and easily in the photo studio. A softbox is just loose cloth with four flexible rods inside. You can use a softbox to adjust the direction of your lights for a professional studio photo shoot.
How To: Load 120 film into a Paterson plastic reel
Many people have trouble loading 120 film into developing reels when they are first starting. In the darkroom, it's tricky business to wind film and load it into a developing tank. Find out what works for you and repeat the process until it becomes second nature. If you are interested in developing your own photographs, you will need to know this process backwards and forwards, using all types of film, reels and developing tanks.
How To: Load film into Kodacraft tanks
This video will be useful to a select group of people, who are still interested in developing film by hand using the Kodacraft film canisters. Practice loading Kodacraft film tanks with plastic film aprons. Use an exposed roll of film to do try this process in the light. Now, let's see if you can do it blindfolded, or in the dark room.
How To: Make a glass positive/soft negative for Collodion
This shows the process of making a positive image on clear glass; traditionally, this would be called an Ambrotype. Here, it is a little bit overexposed to get a "soft negative" or a negative that can be used with modern silver paper (printing). Learn how to make a glass positive or soft negative picture with the Collodion printing technique by watching this video photography tutorial.
How To: Take Perfect Selfies
The selfie craze has caught up and how! But sadly enough, not all of us know the tips and tricks to get it right. Watch this video if you're yet to master the art of clicking the perfect selfie.
CES 2015: The CUBE Action Camera, Polaroid's Answer to the GoPro
Polaroid's answer to the masculine-fueled GoPro comes in the form of a tiny family-friendly square, fittingly named the Polaroid CUBE. Starting at a very modest $99.99 , the water-resistant action camera comes in all different colors, shoots HD video at 1080p, allows users to take 6MP pictures, and supports a microSD card of up to 32GB. Attached to the bottom of the cube is a magnet that allows you to stick the camera in many places, including the side of a car (though the Polaroid representa...
How To: Take the Perfect Selfie, Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year
Ladies and gentleman, it's official—"Selfie" has been named Word of the Year by Oxford Dictionaries.
How To: Do a Nighttime Halloween Photoshoot
Eric Levin is back! Check out his latest photography how-to video. It's basically a cool nighttime photoshoot session in the middle on New England forest, obviously featuring... Ice Nine Kills!
How To: Add Creepy Apparitions to Your Halloween Photos Using the Pepper's Ghost Illusion
Photographers have been using the Pepper's Ghost Illusion for over a century to play up the level of creepiness in their photos. Many of the pictures that claim to be real "sightings" use this technique to project a ghostly figure into the background of their images. Today, it's still used in theatre, "scary" rides at amusement parks, and haunted houses all over the world, which makes it a great photography trick for Halloween time. As shown in the tutorial below by Make's Jason Poel Smith, t...
News: New York Times Photojournalism
Very interesting interview with the editors of the New York Times Lens Blog, a website which is totally dedicated to photojournalism and videojournalism.
How To: Take Photos at Night
Lighting is one of the most important features of good photography. American photographer Eric Levin has become somewhat of a favorite of mine, especially because his photography tips and tricks are a very helpful tool for all aspiring photographers.
Light Painting with Fire: How to Capture the Perfect, Most Badass Wall of Flames Photo
You may remember this badass wall of flames photo... That's because last month I highlighted a tutorial by photographer Barry Elder that showed how to light paint with fire.
How To: This Clever DIY Contraption Lets You Capture Exploding Balloons Without a High-Speed Trigger
There are some pretty incredible camera techniques out there, but the biggest problem that amateur photographers run into is that they don't have the equipment to try them. You can still get some great shots, but there are some things that are really hard to do if you don't have the money to drop on expensive lenses and accessories.
How To: Use a Video Projector for Long-Exposure Light Painting in the Snow
There's no shortage of techniques when it comes to light painting—you can use LEDs, flashlights, or even make your own light painting nunchuks. If you want to do something a little different, though, why not use a projector like photographer Brian Maffit did to capture these gorgeous long-exposure shots of a recent snow storm? Maffitt used a projector to play the movie The Lorax onto a tree in his backyard, providing the backdrop for these photos. The long exposure shots were taken using an o...
How To: Need More Juice from Your DSLR? These 2 Battery Hacks Will Keep the Power On Longer
For most people, the battery life on a DSLR is more than sufficient, but if you want to do a really long exposure or time-lapse, one charge might not last long enough to get the shot you want. You can always connect it to an extension cord to charge while you shoot, but that can be really annoying to work around.
How To: Build a Double-Shoulder Camera Mount for Only $8 Using PVC
Shoulder mounts are great for stability, but they can be pretty pricey. This DIY project by TheJamesTheatre is better in both aspects—it rests on both shoulders for extra stability, and it only costs 8 bucks to make. The frame is made of PVC with foam pieces from a pool noodle for cushion. All you need is a few connectors and the nuts and bolts to put it all together. You can find the full parts list on the About section on YouTube.
How To: Take Long-Term Pinhole Exposures Using a Beer Can Camera
Interested in experimenting with long-term pinhole exposure, but don't want to spend a lot of time or money on the setup? Well, why not start by cracking open a cold one? You're going to need it for this project anyway—drinking it is just an added bonus.
How To: Keep Track of Your Disappearing Camera Lens Cap Using LEGOs!
Lens caps are one of those necessary evils that serve a very useful purpose while still creating tons of headaches for users—who hasn't lost at least a few? Sure, you can always buy a holder for it, or just shove it in your pocket, but if you have some LEGOs lying around from your distant youth, you can make your own in just a few minutes.
How To: Shoot a Moving 360 Degree Time-Lapse Around a Tall Building
Time-lapse videos are a recent phenomenon to the mainstream audience—in movies, on television shows, and even in commercial ads. These sped-up and blurred images are a microcosm of many of our lives in which we're constantly in a hurry to get somewhere. We like everything fast: our work, our coffee, and our news.
How To: Add Rainbow Effects to Your Photos Using a Cheap Prism
Want to add cool, colorful effects to your photos without paying for filters or using Photoshop? A cheap glass prism (and some practice) is all you need to bend the light to capture images like the ones below taken by wedding photographer Sam Hurd. Sam uses a six inch triangular prism to catch the light and reflect images in front of his lens. The shape allows you to "twist the prism into creating a curve and bend-like distortion of your surroundings," which can create rainbow effects and mir...
How To: Print Memorable Photos of Your Digital Life Online Using the Polaroid Cacher
Polaroid photographs have a charming old-fashioned feel to them, evoking nostalgic memories of past days. My younger sister used to carry her Polaroid camera everywhere she went, transforming even the most trite moments into something wonderful.