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Weekly Photography Challenge – Tunnels

Check out: The Light at the End of the Tunnel – 18 Totally Tubular Images.

By Thomas Hawk

Weekly Photography Challenge – Tunnels

If you live in a city there are likely a few options for you to go find some tunnels to photograph.

Always remember – safety first, please! Do not enter a tunnel that has active traffic or trains!

Country dwellers think outside the box. Where can you find a tunnel? Perhaps a drainage pipe for a stream? what about a covered bridge? If you can’t find one can you make your own tunnel?

Time to get creative and share your images of tunnels.

By Claus Tom Christensen

By Caden Crawford

By Jimmy

By followtheseinstructions

Share your images below:

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images on the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Tunnels by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

May 10, 2017
This video of a bear chasing a biker is why POV cameras were invented

Hello Mr. Bear.

Action cameras have made documenting all of the extreme, dangerous and downright stupid things human beings subject themselves to an incredibly simple endeavor. But the truth is most folks’ videos end up looking more like this than like this, because sadly, our lives are just not as interesting as those of pro athletes.

But every now and then something happens during a seemingly run-of-the-mill action camera video that makes every mundane clip that preceded it suddenly feel worth the boredom. I give you, the bear chasing a mountain biker video:

The footage was shot by Dusan Vinžíkwho who was riding with a buddy at a mountain bike park in Slovakia, when suddenly a bear runs out on the trail – it seemingly follows the one rider for a bit before veering off back into the woods.

Of course, there’s a good chance the bear was not actually chasing the rider, and that its presence was purely coincidentally. But the fact remains: keep those action cameras running, because you might actually get something good.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

May 10, 2017
Sundisc is an ultra-portable softbox/reflector combination

Sundisc has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to fund production of its portable light shaper. The Sundisc is an ultra-portable softbox and reversible reflector in one and works with your DSLR’s or mirrorless camera’s flash gun. A compact and foldable design means the Sundisc fits in a camera bag, hand bag or even some coat pockets, allowing you to carry less gear and weight and still have control over your lighting when away from the studio.

When using the Sundisc as a reflector you can switch between a warmer and cooler color temperature by reversing the interior. It automatically flips into its shape when unzipped and clips onto your flash gun. For more information watch the video below or visit the Sundisc Kickstarter page. On the latter you can reserve your personal copy for 400 Swedish krona ($ 45).

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

May 10, 2017
This camera is designed to keep only the best photos

A new device called Trophy Camera uses artificial intelligence to compare its own photographs with the world’s most iconic images. During the comparison, Trophy Camera’s AI looks for specific characteristics common in photographs that have won World Press Photo yearly since 1955. Photos that show at least a 90-percent positive correlation with these notable characteristics are then uploaded to the camera’s own automated website. It’s a bit similar in spirit to Camera Restricta, a concept camera that uses GPS to prevent its user from taking clichéd photos.

Trophy Camera was created by media artist Dries Depoorter and PhD student/photographer Max Pinckers. Speaking to Co.design, Depoorter and Pinckers explain that their camera is a sort of commentary on what they see as the redundant photography produced by the ‘more automatized’ cameras that are becoming increasingly popular.

Elaborating on that, Pinckers said:

Press photography appears to be becoming a self-referential medium dominated by tropes, archetypes, and pop-culture references. What implications does this have on how we learn about the world through the images we are being shown? …By making this camera, we try to implicitly comment on the current status of photojournalism–which seems to be becoming more questionable in today’s visual landscape–along with the incredibly fast development of computer vision and the relevance of artificial intelligence in our time.

The camera itself is made from a Raspberry Pi Zero W, the computer’s Full HD camera module, a 128 x 32 monochrome OLED display, and a 5000mAh powerbank. Trophy Camera is currently part of an exhibition where photographs are taken; most of them are blurry and less than ‘notable,’ as shown on the camera’s automated website.

Via: Co.design

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

May 10, 2017
How To Shoot Professional Portraits

Good weather is when photographers like taking photos outdoors. A lot of photographers go to parks to take beautiful shots. But how can they stop taking casual photos and start creating professional portraits? This article gives you a lot of recommendations on how to create art photo portraits. Where to start? Of course, first you should begin planning your photo Continue Reading

The post How To Shoot Professional Portraits appeared first on Photodoto.

Photodoto

May 10, 2017
How to Crop to Exact Pixel Size Using Photoshop – with Phil Steele
If you’ve struggled to resize images to an exact pixel size watch this video tutorial by Phil Steele. He will show you exactly how to crop your images to fit a specific pixel size (like for a Facebook banner, etc.) using one quick step in Photoshop.

Crop to pixel size using Photoshop

Phil also mentioned that it’s a good idea to sharpen your image after cropping. Here is some help on that topic:
- Photoshop Tip: Using the High Pass Filter to Sharpen Images
- Smarter Sharpening in Photoshop using Adobe Camera Raw
If you want more Photoshop tutorials, try these:
- How to Understand the Curves Tool in Photoshop
- How to Use the Levels Tool in Photoshop
- How to do Digital Blending in Photoshop to Create a Composite Photo
- How to Create a Rim Light Effect Using Photoshop
- How to Add a Sun Flare to Your Images Using Photoshop
- How to do Non-Destructive Editing in Photoshop
Want more from Phil? Check out his Photoshop Basics course here.

The post How to Crop to Exact Pixel Size Using Photoshop – with Phil Steele by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School
May 10, 2017
Filmmaker and photographer collaborate to show natural beauty of ocean waves

How do you capture the beauty of an ocean wave with a single still image? You turn it into a cinemagraph, of course.

After discovering the potential of the Puppet Warp tool in Adobe effects, Dutch cinematographer Armand Dijcks started to experiment with creating ‘cinemagraphs’ of images of moving water, using Flixel Cinemagraph Pro to create the infinitely looping animations.

After perfecting the technique, Dijcks reached out to Australian ocean photographer Ray Collins for source images. Their collaboration, titled ‘The Infinite Now’ can be viewed above.

Read more about the process of creating ‘The Infinite Now’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

May 10, 2017
Holy Housing: Stained Glass Walls & Ceiling Fill Cabin with Color & Light

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

The complete opposite of a minimalist Modernist glass-clad house, this rustic and homey backyard cabin exhibits hand-crafted details, rich dark wood and best of all: a gorgeous array of custom stained glass panels.

Built behind her home in Mohawk, New Jersey, this wonderful work of micro-architecture was constructed by glass artist and jewelry maker Neile Cooper as a private personal retreat.

Her Glass cabin is constructed from reused window frames and spare lumber, evidenced by all of the different shapes and sizes that add character and complexity to the structure. The gaps are filled in not with walls but rather with works of her own art, bringing the entire place to live with flowers, birds, stones, minerals and other natural subject materials.

While she is not in the business of building and selling small homes (alas), her jewelry work features similar themes as do many of her other stained glass creations.

Some of her unique wearable pieces use “real butterfly wings. The butterflies I use are farmed all over the world, and collected when naturally expired. They live out their short winged stage in a protected enclosure. Butterfly farming protects the natural habitat of the butterflies through conservation of the natural vegetation and leaves the wild butterfly population intact. I turn these fragile beauties into heirloom pieces, by pressing them in hand-cut glass and encasing them with a silver alloy. “

House of Glass: Cabin Facade from Antique Window Frames

On an unusual kind of cross-country road trip, this couple visited garage sales, antique dealers and added these to other roadside finds, all toward the quest of assembling an an eccentric …

Geek Orthodox: Stained Glass Windows To The Nerd Soul

Stained glass… this ancient and ethereal medium combining art with engineering has long been associated with churches, cathedrals and other such houses of the holy. Times have changed, however, …

Windowless House of Glass: Solid Walls Hide Invisible Floors

In a surreal reversal of modern architectural convention, this Vertical Glass House trades a tradition of solid horizontals and clear verticals for an opaque shell and see-through walking …

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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WebUrbanist

May 10, 2017
3 Useful Accessories for Landscape Photography

With photography being more popular than ever been before, it’s no surprise that there are also a whole bunch of accessories available on the market. Many of these are completely unnecessary items that you’ll most likely never need. In this article, I’ll introduce you to three accessories for landscape photography that you can manage without BUT will probably be used more than anything else. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up as your favorite accessories that you can’t imagine photographing without.

L-Bracket

I’ve been using an L-Bracket for so long that I don’t even consider it to be an accessory anymore. For me, it’s become part of my equipment and I honestly don’t remember what my camera looks like without one.

An L-Bracket is a plate that is fastened to your camera body and serves as a connector between the tripod and the camera. The L-bracket is used instead of a regular quick release plate as it’s a much more flexible option. A clamp is placed on the tripod’s head to connect it with the camera.

Advantages of an L-Bracket

Now, you might be asking, “Why is that a better option than the regular plate which comes with the tripod?” Simply put, it eases your workflow.

Let’s say that you’re standing in the middle of a river and photographing a waterfall. You’re taking a horizontal image and you’ve got a good composition. After taking some images you realize that a vertical image will work better for that scene. With a regular plate, you’ll need to adjust your tripod head so the camera is tilted vertically. By doing this you most likely have to set up the composition all over again since you’re camera has now moved several inches to another side.

With an L-bracket, however, you avoid this problem. Simply disconnect the camera and clip it back into place vertically. In this case, the tripod hasn’t been moved which means you still have the same composition, just vertically instead.

Manfrotto L-bracket mounting a camera vertically on the tripod.

It wasn’t until I “lost” the clamp (connection between camera and tripod) in Iceland that I realized how valuable this tool has become in my workflow (I did find it again later at the airport – in my backpack…) Being able to seamlessly switch between a vertical and horizontal format has made this my favorite accessory. It does add some extra weight to your equipment but it will also protect the camera if you should be unlucky and drop it (still, I don’t recommend dropping it!)

Spirit Level

While this is a built-in function in many high-end DSLR cameras, a spirit level is an accessory that I strongly recommend one if you own a camera without the virtual horizon function.

Capturing images with a straight horizon can be difficult without a spirit level, especially when you’re photographing a scene that doesn’t have a defined horizon (in which case the grid view will help a lot). The spirit level is a handy little tool that will make this process much easier.

The spirit level is placed on the hot shoe (where you connect a flash to the camera). Many choose to leave it there at all times to avoid accidentally forgetting it at home. It’s not the most popular tool for those who don’t use a tripod since it’s placed on top of the camera. If you’re using a tripod, however, it can be essential.

Pre-Moistened Wipes

The last accessory I recommend is one that I have in my backpack at all times. In fact, I get worried if I only have one left.

Pre-moistened wipes are a landscape photographer’s best friend out in the field. We all know that creating beautiful images of landscapes often involve being outdoors in less than ideal weather. Either it’s windy, rainy or large waves are spraying you, having a couple pre-moistened wipes nearby will help you keep the lens clean at any time.

Dust spots or dirt on the lens are constant battles and when it gets really bad it has the potential to ruin an image. (Unless you’re a post-processing ninja who’s willing to spend hours in Photoshop cleaning it up.)

I tend to always have a couple pre-moistened wipes plus a microfiber cloth in my pocket when I’m shooting out in the field. Most of the time, regular microfiber cloths will work great but in the most challenging conditions, you will want to use wet ones. This is especially true when photographing seascapes and the lens gets a thin layer of salt over it.

Zeiss lens cleaning wipes.

What are your faves?

These are some of the accessories I recommend for landscape photography. What are your favorites?

The post 3 Useful Accessories for Landscape Photography by Christian Hoiberg appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

May 9, 2017
How to Create Abstract Images With a Soft-Focus Look Using Vaseline

As a rule, sticky substances and photography don’t mix. For a beloved camera, any liquid substance is a cause for concern. So naturally, I was surprised when I stumbled upon a neat trick used by glamor photographers back in the day. Actresses of the 1920s and 30s were photographed in the soft-focus style that photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen developed.

Arnold Grethe and Victor Georg, photographers of Vanity Fair used hazy focus, diffusion filters, and other techniques to soften the portraits of actors, particularly women. This stylized softness was adopted by American filmmakers who before then had stuck to the sharpest focus possible. Doris Day, queen of romantic glamor portraiture was rumored to have insisted that photographers use diffusion filters to soften the focus of her photographs. And sometimes, in a pinch, photographers applied Vaseline or petroleum jelly to the lenses.

An abstract photograph of yellow flowers, taken with Vaseline or petroleum jelly applied to a clear filter. The waves in the image reflect the density of the petroleum jelly applied to the lens.

How to make a soft-focus look with petroleum jelly

Creating a diffusion filter with petroleum jelly is actually quite simple, and a lot less messy than it sounds. First, raid your bathroom cupboard for some Vaseline. If you don’t already have a supply, you can purchase a tub from your local pharmacy.

Next, you’ll need to apply the jelly to your lens. There are two ways to go about this. One method is to first stretch a layer or two of cling wrap over the front of your lens, forming a barrier between the jelly and the lens. Fix the cling wrap with a rubber band and double check for holes in the plastic before you start applying the jelly. The potential risk of this method is that the plastic might rupture, causing the jelly to ooze all over your lens instead.

Alternatively, if you have a spare clear filter handy, you could smear petroleum jelly all over that instead. This is a little simpler and you can remove the jelly with alcohol wipes later. Either way, DO NOT apply the petroleum jelly directly to your camera lens – it won’t end well.

This abstract photograph of water was taken with only a thin level of petroleum jelly applied to the center of the lens filter.

Method of application

Start off by adding very small amounts of petroleum jelly to your lens or cling-wrap rig. You can apply the petroleum jelly with your finger, a brush, or some additional plastic for varying results. I’ve found that if you use your finger to apply the jelly, it can leave abrupt areas that affect the softness of the resulting image. Even in very small amounts, the softening effect of the petroleum jelly is quite pronounced. The more you add, the more abstracted the resulting photograph will be.

The direction in which you apply the petroleum jelly also has a significant impact on the outcome of your photograph. Swiping the petroleum jelly in one direction could result in a completely different effect to that of jelly applied in the opposite direction. Experiment with different application methods by tracing different shapes into the lens with your finger.

I also pack some alcohol or glass wipes in case I want to remove a portion of the Vaseline for artistic purposes.

The direction that the petroleum jelly is applied impacts how the resulting photograph will look. For this image, I applied streaks of petroleum jelly around the outer edges of the filter. I then used a tissue to clear the center area. This resulted in a clearer view of the subject in the center of the photograph, and streaks of color on the edges.

A balance between abstraction and soft-focus, this effect was achieved with different densities of petroleum jelly distributed over the lens filter.

For this effect I used my finger to draw zig-zag patterns in the layer of petroleum jelly on my filter. The resulting image is clearly shaped by the sharp edges I traced.

An abstracted image of tree branches with diffused light peaking through the leaves.

When finished, carefully remove the cling wrap or filter. You can wipe the filter down with some alcohol wipes before stowing it away for later use.

Try it

Give this fun abstract soft-focus technique a try and share your results in the comments section below.

The post How to Create Abstract Images With a Soft-Focus Look Using Vaseline by Megan Kennedy appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

May 9, 2017