Camera Technique
Article: Making A Connection
New York-based Dutch photographer Mirjam Evers has traveled and photographed in more than 50 countries, focusing her camera and her eyes on creating environmental portraits and travel, documentary and adventure photographs. She's able to transcend...
Article: Master White Balance For Better Color
White balance and the digital camera are like the engine in a car for many people. As long as it works, they don't worry about it, and for many users, automatic white balance works just fine. But if you want the optimum color and consistency from your...
Article: October 1, 2024 HelpLine
Q) I read your HelpLine column a few months back about photographing fireworks. Thanks for the tips. I really like the shots I got, but I'm wondering about overexposure. Also, the center of many of the fireworks seemed to be just plain white with no...
Article: October 22, 2024 HelpLine
Q) I just bought my first digital SLR; actually, it's my first SLR, too. I've been spending nights and weekends trying to learn all of the various features, but there's one feature that I'm just not getting. Depth-of-field preview doesn't seem to...
Article: Once Upon A Time In The West
Howdy, pardner! I’m glad you could join the posse in the search to rustle up new creative imaging ideas. You’re riding with some talented folks. By now you may have guessed that, like many kids who grew up in the 1950s, I have the soul of a cowboy...
Article: Painting With Light
I had 30 seconds left. Running through the pitch-black desert night, I stumbled into a prickly pear cactus, but didn't have time to worry about the quills embedded in my leg. I was in pursuit of a masterpiece! I quickly switched gels, aimed and fired....
Article: Photo Workout: Exercises To Flex Your Photographic Skills
How do you become a better photographer? You can read articles in magazines like PCPhoto, study books and attend workshops. All of these pursuits will help you learn new and improved techniques for photography. This Article Features Photo Zoom ...
Article: Photographing Festivals
The action, costumes, colors and performances at festivals, special events and reenactments make them a ton of fun to attend and photograph. Taking snapshots is easy, but if you want to turn your snapshots into great shots, you have to pay careful...
Article: Plane Fixes
Layers provide the best way of isolating and controlling an image in Photoshop or any other image-processing program. Using layers effectively requires some practice, as does any craft. With use, plus trial-and-error experimentation, you'll understand...
Article: Point And Shoot Like A Pro
All digital SLR cameras offer the traditional exposure modes: program AE, shutter-priority AE, aperture-priority AE and metered manual exposure control. These are the mainstays of "serious" photographers because they provide control over important...
Article: Pro Tips: Turning Pro
A mid-career switch from electrical engineering to photography wasn't exactly what Paul Kline had in mind when he began taking pictures again. But photography is how he makes his living now, with corporate and editorial clients demanding his services,...
Article: Seeing In Black & White
Black-and-white images always have held a special place in photography. Although color photographs comprise the majority of the images that are created and printed, a monochromatic print produces a much different reaction than does a color version of...
Article: Setting The Stage
Environmental portraits—photographs of people in a surrounding that relates to who they are or what they do—have been the staple of newspaper and magazine photographs since the halftone process enabled images to be reproduced in those mediums. Early...
Article: Shooting Blurs
There's power in movement. While a sharp action image can be dramatic and beautiful, a blurry photograph that captures the energy of a moment can be equally as stunning. Blur softens the details of an image and, although normally we try to avoid this...
Article: Studio-Quality Lighting Made Easy
At some point in time, many photographers decide to try their hand at portrait or studio work. After disappointing results with their camera's built-in flash, they begin to look into studio lighting solutions. Although the proper equipment makes it...
Article: The Color Of Light
White balance is one of the new features we've had to learn to make the most of in digital photography. It's often seen as yet another technical hurdle photographers have to leap over in order to get a good image. Learn how to set it "right," and...
Article: The Need For Speed
My guess is that most of you won't be in a situation where you'll be photographing a subject speeding toward or past you at 220 mph, but that's exactly the challenge for Barry Zeek, who specializes in capturing lightning-fast motor-sports action. You...
Article: Trade Tricks: Got A Light?
Although the best light of the day is often that of early morning or late afternoon, the duration of such light is very short. More often than not, you're shooting the majority of your images during midday when the light is harsh and contrasty. This...
Article: Trade Tricks: Hot, Cool And Continuous
Stop wondering. While strobes throw out a short burst of light, continuous lights provide a constant output that allows you to see where your light is going. You don't have to constantly check your image via LCD screen or computer monitor to make sure...
Article: Trade Tricks: Make A Great Portrait
Portraiture can be one of the most difficult, yet also one of the most rewarding challenges as a photographer. Unlike photographing an inanimate object, when you're shooting a portrait, you first have to put the subject at ease. Whether it's a person...
Article: Trade Tricks: Selective Focus
Using selective focus is a powerful technique to help frame and present your subject. Playing with depth of field will help transform your image from one that looks like a quick snapshot to one that shows you've put some creative thought into how you...
Article: Trade Tricks: Street Life
One of my own favorite photographs happened by chance. My wife and I were leaving a movie theater, exiting into a street that had been nearly empty only a few hours before. Now, there were several thousands cheering and dancing around in celebration....
Article: Trade Tricks: The Selective Focus Technique
One of the challenges we face as photographers is making the subject stand out from its surroundings. An effective way to do this is to use the selective focus technique, which allows us to choose one part of the image to be sharp and in focus while...
Article: Trade Tricks: Underwater Digital For Travelers
If you've snorkeled or scuba dived on vacation, you already know about the amazing world that lies beneath the water's surface. The remarkable creatures and seascapes are so stunning that they beg to be captured in photographs. Thankfully, you don't...
Article: Trick Shots: Action
From baseball to soccer, race cars to dance, flying birds to breaching dolphins, the world around us is filled with action that just demands to be photographed. In this article, we'll give you tips and techniques on how you can improve your action...
Article: Trick Shots: Low Light
While recently critiquing the work of one of my students, I noticed that several of his images lacked sharpness, which I immediately attributed to camera shake. We looked at the images' EXIF data to find out at what shutter speed he was shooting while...
Article: Trick Shots: Snow
Taking pictures in the snow is cool, literally and figuratively speaking, but snow scenes present certain photographic challenges. First, all that white can fool a camera's exposure meter into thinking that the scene is brighter than it actually is,...
Article: Ultimate Portraits
No matter what you like to photograph, chances are, at some point you'll find yourself shooting a portrait. Imagine being in the middle of composing that stunning Patagonia landscape image, when a weathered gaucho on his horse gallops up, providing a...
Article: Ultimate Travel Photography
Beryl Markham begins West with the Night, her wonderful and enthralling book about her adventures as a bush pilot in East Africa in the mid-1930s, with the question, "How is it possible to bring order to memory?" Beryl Markham begins West with the...
