Technique

In Part II of the Outdoor Studio, Photographer William Gill gets technical about his lighting setup as he illuminates a large train in marshland.

Introducing the art of photographing trains at night, photographer William Gill gives us a behind-the-scenes look at his methodology and routine.

Wrapping up round 30 of Get Pushed, we take a look at the works and technical mind of Matt Lincoln. We interview Matt about the creation of his composite photograph.

The Focal Length is often neglected, changed to frame a shot out of convenience. This is a nasty habit that we need to break. We’ll tell you why and motivate you to be a stronger photographer.

Learn about the process of creating black & white photographs with digital photos. This article takes you through the whole process – one photographer’s process – but focuses mostly on the conversion. This will serve as a foundation that you will build on as you grow to love black & white processing.

Big City Lights are the focus of this month’s Common Photo Themes. Featuring five different cities around the world, we learn the many facets of urban lighting, captured in fantastic photographs. Read on to see these stories told by the eyes and cameras of five inspiring photographers.

Even in the world of photography – an art that allegedly replicates the world before our eyes into a printable media – art is not so specifically defined.  I feel that photography is modern art, and it can be as abstract or as chaotic as any other media to the right eye and mind. Photography is versatile and adaptable.  Maybe not in the camera, but in post processing, the image can be manipulated and re-purposed   And so it’s not so easy to categorize the end result.  Are modified photographs still photographs? I am going to admit a change of opinion on my part.  Five years ago, when the bones of Shutter Photo were just getting roughed into place, I considered myself to be more of a photojournalist.  Not that the subjects I was photographing were newsworthy, nor were they necessarily recording specific historical details.  Rather I believe I had a photojournalists ethic:  Change nothing, present the photograph as accurately as could be seen by the naked eye.  My art was based on new angles, different and uncharacteristic perspectives of subjects and spaces that weren’t commonly seen.  I was shooting to “get it right in the camera”, and I prided myself on what little …

Based on the Inverse Square Law, we learn how to trick the camera to black out the background. It is a useful trick for portraits, and one that every photographer should know. An off-camera flash is required…a real backdrop is not.

This week, we feature “Over The Hedge” by Mark Boyle in an effort to explore everyone’s favorite subject to view and capture: The Wow Moment. Using Mark’s photo, we will discuss why the Wow is often enough, and we’ll discuss some things to consider when capturing such a moment.

Part 3 of 3 in a series that explores a self-portrait project featuring ruins. We explore the challenges and analyze photos from the series in this Behind The Scenes discussion.