Ideas

Toning a Darkroom Photograph With Spices and Tea

I've wanted to experiment with the idea of imbuing a print with more than just standard chemistry, and I especially like the idea of adding layers of experience to what is ordinarily solely a visual medium.

Shooting Color and Black and White Film… At the Same Time

There are a lot of crazy ideas out there when it comes to experimental photography. Multiple exposures. Film Soups. Shooting your rolls backward. But have you ever heard of anybody loading two rolls of film into a camera at the same time? Me neither, and that’s exactly why I’m going to do it!

Introducing Grammar to the Language of Photography

While photography and linguistic language share characteristics, when it comes to actually applying theories and practices between one and the other, it can be hard to remain coherent. This is down to the flaw in thinking that just because a comparison can be made aspects can be transposed between them.

Shooting the Landscape at 70 Miles an Hour

Landscape photography at 70 mph. Is it even possible? For years the idea of landscape photography was to put your camera on a tripod, frame very carefully, then wait for the light to be perfect before you shot. But what if you had to do everything in exactly the opposite way?

Photographer Catches ISS Crossing the Moon on 35mm Film

Catching the International Space Station crossing the face of the Moon is quite challenging these days even with advanced cameras and relatively affordable telescopes, but one photographer decided to take things to the next level by catching an ISS lunar transit on 35mm film.

Photographer Builds Hybrid Viewfinder with Digital Overlay for Smartphones

Since the advancements made with mirrorless camera systems and their digital viewfinders, cameras with optical viewfinders have become somewhat rare, with hybrid viewfinders being even harder to find. This is why Getschmann decided to dive into his physics and engineering background to build one from scratch for his smartphone camera.

Why You Should Invest in Unique Props to Shoot Portraits That Stand Out

We live in a world where everyone has access to a camera in some form or another, and the content we create is often viewed through a phone screen. So it's no surprise that so many people have learned how to take and edit cool photos that will get them likes on Instagram.

How I Documented the Making of a Wedding Dress

Having been a wedding photographer for the past fifteen years, I’ve seen my fair share of white wedding dresses, but before focusing on weddings, I was fortunate enough to gain a little experience in the fashion industry, shooting for magazines, working backstage at fashion shows, and covering both London and Paris Fashion Weeks.

The Camera is a Pen: Brainstorming as a Photographer

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the ebbs and flows of inspiration, particularly with the ups and downs of the last few years. Since I work with a variety of photographers, I get to observe their patterns of motivation, and it’s been fascinating to think about.

Vernacular Photography: The Joy of Collecting Found Photos

As a photographer, I have been making photographs with my own cameras my entire life. From my first Kodak Instamatic camera as a child, to the Sigma film SLR that I received as a gift in high school, to my first digital camera (a Sony Mavica in 1999 or so) to my current DSLR (a Canon 5D Mark IV) — for me photography has been both a lifelong pursuit and a passion as both a photographer and an artist.

3 Film Hacks to Expand Your Photo Creativity

The resurgence of interest in film photography is astonishing. Newcomers revel in the challenge of having only a limited number of photos per roll. They enjoy the suspense of waiting a lengthy period for the film to be processed before they see whether their photos have turned out.

A Photographer’s Kit for Getting Out of a Creative Rut

For photographers, creativity is the difference between a nice photo and a NICE photo. But what happens if you’re not feeling very creative? That’s when I like to dive into what I call my “photographer’s creative kit,” a bunch of different things to try.

This Telescope FPV Timelapse Shows What Astrophotography Feels Like

My love of astronomy started way back as a child when my dad bought a Celestron C8 telescope. I remember spending hours with him searching to find a single dark sky object. This love of the night sky stuck with me and it wasn't until 2012 I made a New Year's resolution to go out for one night each month near the new moon to do astronomy, astrophotography, and time-lapse of the night sky.

Wedding Photographer Finds Success in Divorce Photography

In 2020, wedding photographer Allie Siarto's business saw a steep decline as COVID spread, weddings were downsized or canceled, and demand for her services dried up. In the midst of the downturn and pandemic, she decided to expand into an unexpected new niche: divorce photography.

8 Useful Ways to Describe and Measure Your Photos

A leading textbook on creative photography, released in 1980, devotes more than 90% of its 460 pages to technical considerations — how cameras and lenses work, darkroom procedures, lighting — and just a few pages to aesthetics and composition.

Ricoh GRm: My Custom ‘Monochrom’ Camera

For a long time now, I've been looking a little enviously in the direction of Leica because of the monochrome versions of the M and Q models.

Introducing the Zenzablad: Apologies to Victor Hasselblad

For the last 50 years, we’ve all had to live with the Hasselblad Super Wide C's flaws, its shortcomings, its chunky "industrial chic" looks and function. Like most everyone else, I’ve had the same thoughts and visceral reaction when it came to this particular camera.

Photographer Captures ‘Space Photos’ in Parking Lot Gasoline Puddles

Finnish photographer Juha Tanhua has been shooting an unusual series of "space photos." While the work may look like astrophotography images of stars, galaxies, and nebulae, they were actually captured with a camera pointed down, not up. Tanhua created the images by capturing gasoline puddles found on the asphalt of parking lots.

How to Shoot ‘Space Nebula’ Smoke Photos at Home

During long periods of cloudy weather, it can be really frustrating as an astrophotographer to wait for the sky to clear up. Over the years, I’ve learned how to handle these long downtimes.

Anything Can Be a Light Modifier for Portraits with a Little Creativity

Light shaping tools are very expensive. What if you could take any object and turn it into a modifier? That would save you a lot of money as well as give some unique results. In this article, I will share some everyday objects that you can turn into light modifiers to get different looks.

My Journey to Cubist Photography

Nude Descending a Staircase, N0 2. The 1912 painting by Marcel Duchamp is what started me on my exploratory journey into cubist photography. I thought to recreate it with a long exposure and multiple bursts of flash. But I don’t know anyone with a long open staircase nor anyone willing to model naked on a public staircase.

An illustration with a photographer next to a pile of presents

16 Best Gifts for Photographers in 2024

Need to buy a gift for a photographer in your life but have no idea what to look for? We have scoured the world of photography to put together this list of best gifts for photographers you can find right now.

10 Ways to Generate Revenue With Online Sales

Online sales have long been the go-to for photographers looking to earn passive income. While you reach out to editors and communicate with clients about their latest headshots or food photos, have you considered which images you’ve already made might make you some quick cash?