The huge strength of the Apple iTunes store is that it features a vast array of apps in virtually any category. Photography is one of the most popular iTunes categories, and with good reason. We’ve already done a very comprehensive post about some of the hottest photography apps on iTunes, but they were all mostly of a serious nature. That Continue Reading
The post Explore the Funnier Side of Mobile Photography with these Photo Apps for iPhone appeared first on Photodoto.
It is time for another of our polls – this one revisits a topic that we did a poll on back in 2009 – What Type of Photography Do You Do?
Please choose all categories that apply to what you do (as many as you like).
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
If there’s a category that you don’t see in the list – feel free to tell us about it in comments below.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
What Type of Photography Do You Do? [POLL]
Image by MonkeyMagic1975
After our post yesterday on using colour boldly we thought it might be time for a ‘colour’ related challenge this week. The colour we’re nominating for you to feature in your shot is – YELLOW.
Your challenge is to take some great photos that feature yellow. Lemons, rubber ducks, cheese, sunsets flowers…. I’m sure you get the picture!
Once you’ve taken your Yellow photos upload your best ones to your favourite photo sharing site either share a link to them even better – embed them in the comments using the our new tool to do so.
If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites with Tagging tag them as #DPSYELLOW to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.
Also – don’t forget to check out some of the great shots posted in last weeks 50mm challenge – there were some great shots submitted.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Yellow: Weekly Photography Challenge
By Hélio Dias.
I have lost count of how many times I’ve came home and regretted not having done something to get better pictures when I was traveling.
Luckily, each time that happened I learned from my mistakes. Now I want to share them with you so you don’t need to learn the worst way.
The tips apply for professional jobs and for your vacation pictures.
Search on the internet – Google, Flickr, 500px, etc. – for images of the places you are going to visit and have a first look on them. Pay attention to the light, the colors, the possibilities to explore in the field and find out the best locations to take your photos.
On Flickr, for instance, it’s even possible to check the time in which the picture was taken, so you can know how the light is in that particular site at that time. A little geeky, but really helpful for me.
The possibilities of the research on the web are pretty amazing and endless. For food photography, for example, you don’t need to find a restaurant with pictures on the menu, or spend some time inspecting what people around you are eating before ordering your meal. You can find information and pictures of local food in advance and choose the best looking dishes, so when you go to a restaurant you know exactly what to order to take photos of.
Don’t run the risk of finding out later about a great place you missed when you where there.
Moon Valley, a beautiful place I missed in my first visit to La Paz, Bolivia.
Definitely not something you haven’t heard yet, but sure the most important photography advice I’ve ever got: work the scene.
Spend some time trying to make the best possible photo from something you see potential on. Always remember: it’s not about getting 200 nice snapshots. It’s about 5 to 10 great photos. Invest your time and effort on these few ones.
Don’t rush. Never get satisfied with your first shot. There is a 99,9% chance you will get a better one if you study the scene more carefully.
Try different perspectives and angles. Walk around, get closer, get further. Try other lenses. Pay attention to details – they might be the center of interest you are looking for. Find the best background.
Drain your possibilities to the last drop. Then move on to the next shot.
There’s nothing more disappointing than looking at your photos when you are home and wish you had shot that particular picture from a different perspective.
Dublin, Ireland. This one was about my 15th try. Totally worth the time and the shots.
Kind of the same advice as the previous one. Just this time I want to point out the time you spend in a certain location after finding your best angle. You worked the scene, you found your composition. Now it’s time to add a little sugar to it.
There are 2 situations in which you may wait some time to get the best shot.
1) The scene is great, but you think it would be perfect with some random person walking by. Or a dog. Or a bird flying. Or a crowd passing by. Or a woman dressed in red. Wait for it until you get it.
Chefchaouen, Morocco. I wanted to portray someone wearing the same outfit as the people in the painting, so I waited until the perfect subject passed by.
2) Many times you will have to wait for the best light. If that’s the case and it is too soon, take a picture, memorize your position and come back later.
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp – Oranienburg, Germany. I noticed the potential for a good picture when I arrived there earlier. So I calmly visited the site and, by the time I finished, the light was already perfect.
In both cases, you will need even more patience than when you were looking for the best framing. Now you just wait there, as long as it takes.
It’s really hard to keep the concentration while you are waiting there. But it’s really easy to regret not having waited when you are home sorting your photos later.
Wake up early and take advantage of the early morning light.
It will sound like the worst possible idea when your alarm clock beep at 5 AM, but you will be pleased with the awesome pictures you will take – a lot better than the ones you’d take around noon.
By shooting in the morning and in the afternoon on both golden hours, you raise 100% your photography time with good light. Plus: Other tourists may take pictures at the same sites, but as most of them won’t wake up early and because the sun in the morning lights up everything from the opposite side, your pictures will look different from theirs. Also, you can take advantage of the fact that it’s usually quieter in the morning than it is in the afternoon.
“Bored Stone” – Jericoacoara, Brazil. Many friends question me why this place looked so different when they visited and why their pictures look so dull. The “big” secret is to go there in the morning.
You will never regret having woken up so early when you get home and see the beautiful pictures you brought.
5. Have Options
It’s always good to explore some possibilities and to have more options when you are sorting and cropping your pictures.
For example, even after composing carefully and finding the best image, shoot a horizontal and a vertical photo of the same scene.
If you are using a random person to help composing a shot, do it with a man, a woman, a kid, a couple, etc.
Don’t shoot too tight. It’s better to have a wider picture and crop afterwards if needed – to adequate the picture to the available format in a magazine, for example. Give your editor (and yourself) room to edit.
Choose the best option later, when you can look carefully at each image, or let your editor choose if it’s a paid job.
Essaouira, Morocco. I waited many minutes in front of this colored plastic boxes wall and took the same picture with other men, women, couples and kids. In the end, the guy in a white dress with a bicycle seemed like the best choice.
How many times I have regretted not having asked someone to take his picture!
It’s a big think to step up and go ask a stranger to take his photo. I’ve lost count of the many thousands of great portraits I’ve lost in the past because I was too shy to ask permission.
But what has to be done has to be done. At one point you stop being silly and go ask the first stranger.
The second one will be almost as difficult as the first one. And the third just a little less. But by the 100th time you do it, it will be as easy as 1, 2, 3. The first no’s are very disappointing, but at some point you get used to it. Trust me.
Peruvian man. “Can I take your picture?”. “It’s my pleasure!”.
When you finally make that great picture, check carefully on your LCD screen if it’s not shaky or out of focus.
Also check the histogram and observe if the picture isn’t under or over exposed (don’t trust the image on the LCD to check this, especially in a bright day).
Sometimes you’ll only find out how dirty your camera’s sensor or lenses’ glass were when you tweak the contrast of your photos while editing and see the dark spots pop out.
Ahu Tongariki, Easter Island. It’s been a while, but I’m still cleaning out all the dirty spots on many pictures from that trip.
Use a bulb blower, a brush or proper cleaning fluid to clean your camera’s sensor, and a clean cloth to clean your lenses’ glass and filters.
You could clean those spots later on Photoshop, but it’s really annoying and will take some time. Better to avoid the extra work.
When you get to the PC to sort and organize your travel photos you will want to know the names of the places and landmarks you photographed, especially when you find yourself uploading a picture and need a caption for it.
Take notes or, if it’s possible, take a picture of a sign or plaque related to the subject.
Sometimes you can find the information you need later on the internet, but even then it’s more time consuming than just writing it down in a small notebook.
Be safe. Watch your stuff.
You can buy new equipment, but the pictures on your stolen memory card are lost forever.
Reduce the risks. Be prudent.
The best picture I’ve ever taken, from my trip to Colombia. Lost by carelessness. Put the memory card in my pocket, and when I looked for it, it was gone.
What about you? What have you already regretted?
Hélio Dias is a Brazilian photographer and travel writer. Visit his website and follow him on Facebook and on Twitter at @diashelio.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
10 Travel Photography Tips to Help Avoid Regrets When You Get Home
We’ve written many times about why we like 50mm lenses here on dPS (for example here, here and here) and every time we do we get a heap of readers telling us that they love them too.
So this week your photographic challenge is to take and share an image taken with a 50mmm lens (or if you don’t have one – taken at around the 50mm mark on your zoom lens).
Feel free to take any kind of photo – just make sure you’re shooting at 50mm!
Once you’ve taken your 50mm photo upload it to your favourite photo sharing site either share a link to them even better – embed them in the comments using the our new tool to do so.
If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites with Tagging tag them as #DPS50mm to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.
Also – don’t forget to check out some of the great shots posted in last weeks Low Light challenge – there were some great shots submitted.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
50mm Focal Length: Weekly Photography Challenge
Triggertrap’s new flash adapter activates any hot shoe-equipped flash from an iPhone using a specialized mobile dongle, flash adapter and iOS app – ideal for freezing high-speed action using your off-camera flash. If you’re trying to catch a bullet mid-flight, it is very difficult if the flash is connected to your camera, but Triggertrap’s sound-activated system makes it a little easier. Learn more about how it works on connect.dpreview.com.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Lomography is a quite unknown term, but many of us practice it more than once. Actually, what some consider mistakes like exposure defects or over-saturated colors are what makes lomography so special. This movement was born in early ‘90s by a group of Viennese students who discovered the Lomo LC-A camera while on vacation in Prague. Since then lomography has Continue Reading
The post Break the Rules: 100 Lomo Photography Ideas to Get Inspired appeared first on Photodoto.
The best thing about the internet? TONS of information at your fingertips, available instantly and on-demand. The worst thing about the internet? SIFTING through that information. But worry not, fellow photographers, we’ll do our best to make it easy on you this week. We’ve spent some time researching some of the best photography posts from several excellent sources online, and Continue Reading
The post 20 of the Absolute Best Photography Posts From Around the Internet appeared first on Photodoto.
One of the most difficult topics to discuss about photography and many other art forms is creativity. Creativity is an intangible that often isn’t recognized until it’s seen and often appreciated until the artist has passed. This is one of the many reasons creativity isn’t discussed as much as gear. The tangible is always easier to grasp and has finite boundaries of understanding, where as creativity is amorphous and tough to pin down due to its variability from person to person. Complicating this in the world of photography is the lowering of barriers to make photography easy and accessible to everyone. While this is great for most it really ruffles the feathers of long time photographers and in some aspects rightly so. Creativity is often lost on those obsessing on gear stats, subject location, exposure settings, machine gunning photo after photo and comments/likes. Rightly or wrongly it’s tough to hear and see cranky old photographers complain about how it IS versus how it USED TO BE. Case and point this recent article, Humanity takes millions of photos every day. Why are most so forgettable?
Slow vs Internet Speed
If you come across a film photographer these days you’ll never hear a complaint about the process being slow. Film photographers, those that are remaining, love the slow process as its methodical, allows for contemplation & thought before executing a photograph. Digital photographers that use DSLRs and mobile devices by contrast shoot and share at lightning speed. Given that the methodologies of these two camps are so different it’s no surprise there is often philosophical friction.
Story Telling & Narcissism
While these two camps operate so differently is it really realistic that one camp should expect the other to think the way the other does?
Good pictures that tell a story, he said (Larry Towell, a member of Magnum Photos), are always about other people. But when “everybody with a phone thinks they’re a photographer,” the result is “the autobiographical and the narcissistic.”
Mr. Towell’s grandparents used to have their picture taken once a year, and they had to dress up and go into town to have it done. He cherishes those photographs today. They are a record of what was. But he fears that his granddaughters won’t have any memorable photographs of their own children: They will be lost in the technological deluge.
“People aren’t photographing for history any more. It’s for immediate gratification. If you’re photographing to share an image, you’re not photographing to keep it.”
This is the part of the Humanity takes millions… article that baffles me. I straddle both sides on this one. I have thousands of photos on my iPhone. They’re a great way to document a moment and share it with others via online tools that didn’t exist years ago. In fact I tell stories with these photos more frequently than I do with photos from my DSLR (ex. 4 months of triptychs on Instagram). The upside is great new tools (iPhones, mobile apps for editing and social media web sites) allow me to communicate in ways unimaginable years ago. The downside which I hear, read about and often struggle with is not living in the moment and living behind an iPhone and DSLR. And true people don’t print photos like they used to, but its not the only way to share a photo now either.
One of the more interesting things I’ve observed since I’ve begun sharing DSLR images and mobile images online is that the images that garner the most attention are the those that reflect the life experience of the photographer whether they’re behind the scenes photos of a shoot or sharing spontaneous moments of one’s life. And yes the majority of these types of images are now taken with mobile devices to create a new form of story telling. That being said I still love taking more time with my DSLR to capture images that also tell a story.
Judge Hissy Fit
Should any of us be alarmed that that 3 judges decided to abstain from making any awards in a recent photo contest? I find it interesting, but its certainly not going to change my outlook on my photography. Contests are great for bragging rights, but they don’t really help you improve as a photographer. Not to take anything away from anyone who has won a contest, but having been a judge on multi-judge panel I can tell you that no 3 people like the same things and as a result winners are often compromises. As a result that means the best images aren’t always the ones that win.
So what went wrong at the 2013 Banff Mountain Photography Competition? Did photographers not read the rules and ignore the “photo essay” emphasis? Did photographers rely on photoshop too much? Were there photos truly uninspired or unedited? Did the judges have an unrealistic expectation and unbending view of photography? I’m sure it was all of the above to some degree. Still if I were an entrant I’d look at the contest in a much more skeptical light. At $ 10 an entry I’m sure they made a pretty penny from all the entries and it’s convenient that their $ 3000 grand prize won’t be awarded. Frankly if the organizers can’t guide their judges to follow their own rules it tarnishes their contest and erodes the trust of photographers who take part. In reviewing their rules there isn’t anything said about entries being non-refundable and given no award was granted I wonder if anyone will start demanding a refund. Either way it’s unfortunate that the judges decided to railroad the competition to make a statement versus awarding the best of the entries even if they didn’t think they were the best that could have been.
Creative Catalysts
Here lies some grounding news… for most photographers just starting out you do suck. If you’re pretty good now at photography at one point you sucked and you just suck a little less. If you’re great at photography now you sucked a lot and still suck from time to time, but you stuck with it to be great. If you’re a master photographer you suck at times just less than most, but you know what not to show. All photographers have one thing in common, at one point you sucked. Case and point This is Why Your Pictures Suck. by Ibarionex Perello
How do you suck less? Practice, devotion, tenacity and not biting on the fact that some judge, expert or critic is always right. Find things that inspire you, as inspiration is a catalyst to developing your unique creative outlook. Don’t fret over originality as Originality Is A Matter of Perspective. Get inspired, get comfortable in your own skin and find yourself. It may take a lifetime, but the creative journey will be worth it.
Fantasy vs Reality… Oh the Irony
The flip-side of the coin is just as amusing as mobile photographers also have their gripes. Video, it’s tarnishing the magic of still photography by making things too real! When I read Instagram Video and the Death of Fantasy it gave me a chuckle because it crystalized the fact that no camp of photography is ever truly happy. I’d argue that if anything is keeping photography mediocre it’s photographers inability to focus on their work and spending too much time complaining. *Looking at the time* Oh my how much time did I spend writing this?!
Copyright Jim M. Goldstein, All Rights Reserved
The Day The Judging Stopped – The Mediocrity of Photography
The post The Day The Judging Stopped – The Mediocrity of Photography appeared first on JMG-Galleries – Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography.
JMG-Galleries – Landscape, Nature & Travel Photography
To followup on our post earlier today on Low Light Photography we thought it might be a good topic for this weeks challenge.
So – your challenge is to take and share a photo taken in low light.
You’re welcome to take any approach to this that you like. You might want to try shooting some star trails (also check out this post on star trails) or night skies, do some candle light photography, do a night time streetscape or shoot some light trails – really it is totally up to you.
Once you’ve taken your Low Light photo upload it to your favourite photo sharing site either share a link to them even better – embed them in the comments using the our new tool to do so.
If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites with Tagging tag them as #DPSLOWLIGHT to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.
Also – don’t forget to check out some of the great shots posted in last weeks Converging Lines challenge – there were some great shots submitted.
PS: Don’t forget Neil Creek’s Night Photography Course is 31% off this week – it’d be a great way to explore this topic.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Low Light: Weekly Photography Challenge
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