Advanced Photography Techniques

September 8, 2017

Self-Assigned Challenge: Finding Angles

I was looking at the photos from the editor, and it made me think about finding angles

DL Byron

Photo by David Schloss Scrolling through a gallery of images taken by my editor from a recent trip abroad, I noticed a couple of interesting photos. I don’t mean “cover of a magazine” interesting or maybe even Instagrammable, but for where the focal point was in a very difficult scene. In this instance, the scene was Kendo practice in a setting... Read more

August 21, 2017

Great American Eclipse 2017 Photo

One of our contributors is based in the Midwest, where he witnessed 100% totality. Here’s how he captured this image of the eclipse.

DPP / Photo By William Sawalich

Whether you were able to photograph it, watch a live stream of it or catch it in person, the Great American Eclipse was a breathtaking event. The coast-to-coast total solar eclipse began in Oregon at 10:15 a.m. PST, traveling across the country to coastal Charleston, S.C. at 2:49 EST. Contributor Editor William Sawalich, who’s based in St. Louis,... Read more

August 17, 2017

Paying Tribute To The Masters Of Painting

As photographers and filmmakers, most everything we try to achieve visually with lighting, a camera and storytelling through composition goes back to the Masters

Dan Brockett

“The Supper at Emmaus” by Caravaggio. The lighting is a wonderful example of chiaroscuro, translated from Italian meaning literally “light-dark,” but for those of us who create images, both filmmakers and photographers, this is a common method we use to create contrast, mood and, most significantly, depth and dimension. I recently visited a... Read more

August 1, 2017

Wireless Flash

Radio waves and light beams can make the difference between getting the shot or not

David Schloss

Like many photographers, I worked for a time as an assistant in a studio, where one of my most important tasks was to follow behind (or in front of or beside) the photographer and make sure they didn’t trip over their PC cable, thereby unplugging the lights while simultaneously falling unceremoniously on their face. A remnant of the same era where... Read more

July 17, 2017

B&W Conversions

Try these creative adjustments using Photoshop, Lightroom and third-party software programs for striking black-and-white images

Text & Photography By Tom Bol

Ballet dancer in Cuba. Photography began with black-and-white images and the darkroom process, where images came to life. Today, photographers have many more choices. Some photographers still shoot black-and-white film and develop in the wet darkroom. But for most photographers, we capture in digital color and decide later if we want to convert to black-and-white.... Read more

June 21, 2017

Cooke Optics UK Factory Tour

How to get the Cooke Look

DL Byron

A vintage Cooke Optics lens Cooke Optics has been making lenses for 130 years, and their coatings haven’t changed much since the ’60s—that’s what contributes to the Cooke Look cinematographers want on their digital bodies, like RED and ARRI. The coatings are like pixie dust and seen here (decades of them built up) on a flange. The flange holds... Read more

June 14, 2017

Self-Assigned Challenge: Cine Lenses

Manufacturers are responding to ever more capable cameras with cinema lenses, and Byron tries out two of them

DL Byron

“The Initial Mystery that attends any journey is: how did the traveler reach his starting point in the first place?” — Louise Bogan For this journey I’m on in London, it’s an initial mystery of shooting with cine lenses, but let’s back up to the starting point. If you’ve never heard of a cine lens, that’s shorthand for cinema, and what’s... Read more

June 7, 2017

Self-Assigned Shoot—Vegas In Black & White

Why the Leica M Monochrom has this photographer reacquainting himself with black-and-white photography

DL Byron

To me, shooting in black-and-white is like listening to opera—I have to be in the right mood and frame of mind. Earlier this year, that mood happened at WPPI, a wedding trade show in Las Vegas. I had arranged a demo Leica from their booth and, well, the lighting at trade shows is always terrible, so I asked for the M Monochrom, then assigned myself... Read more

May 17, 2017

Telling A Story With Environmental Portraiture

On assignment with Jim Cornfield, as he uses a subject’s history to tell the story of an honored vet and the airplane that saved his life

Text & Photography By Jim Cornfield

For a recent photo assignment, Jim Cornfield chose to create an environmental portrait of Air Force Capt. Kenneth Curry, telling a story in images by connecting the pilot to his former military experience. The environmental portrait is one of photography’s simpler ideas: An image of a subject that includes his or her external life—some place or... Read more

May 10, 2017

Adjustments With A Restrained Hand

Faithfully and creatively reproducing your images with careful post-production techniques can yield huge dividends

Text & Photography By Brian Matiash

The left half of this frame shows the original photo, as taken by my camera. I had a 6-stop ND filter applied, which not only allowed me to get this long exposure, it also applied a visible blue tint. The right half is the exact same photo except I applied a custom white balance that targeted the gray part of the rushing water. The improvement is quite... Read more

April 26, 2017

Byron’s Blog: Self-Assigned Shoot—Urban Geometries

Using shapes, lines, colors, tones and lighting to create visually interesting and painterly photos of the city

DL Byron

Scene from a typical spring night in NYC. When considering geometries, note that the architect’s vision of the building is ignored because I’m instead concerned with the visual activity around it. In this photo taken during the Sony a9 launch of 30 photographers crowded around the long jump at The Armory, notice what David J. Schloss is doing—he’s... Read more

April 5, 2017

The Power Of Portable Light

Using speedlights to tell a more compelling visual story

Text & Photography By Tom Bol

Moai Statue At Sunset. Nikon D3, 24-70mm ƒ/2.8 lens, shot at 1/50 sec. at ƒ/8, Nikon SB-800 used off-camera to light the statue. I have traveled 4,625 miles to get this image. I’m stumbling through the volcanic landscape in the murky predawn darkness trying to find the Moai statues. The salty breeze and crashing surf remind me of early-morning shoots... Read more

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