fbpx

DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

 

Submit A Story

We are always looking for interesting and inspiring tings to share. If you have a tip or a new bit, please share it with us in this link.

If you want to guest post, please contact us here, and let us know what you want to write about.

How to shoot infrared photography with a smartphone

by Leave a Comment

I will start with a warning: Digital Infrared Photography it’s not easy & this will get technical fast.

Backstory

It all started when I saw some awesome Instagram photos in infrared and I ordered an IR filter (an 88mm ice 760nm from B&H to be more precise) not knowing much about infrared. Filters usually range from 590 to 8-900 nm and usually, this kind of colored infrared shots are obtained with 590nm on a modded camera because it lets some visible light pass as well as infrared. But I had no modded camera and the wrong filter so I decided to try regardless and soon found out that my trusty DSLRs have well-made hot mirrors (the part of the DLSR that normally blocks IR from hitting the sensor) but later discovered that my phone’s sensor is quite sensitive to infrared and this is how my journey started.

[Read More…]

This photo wasn’t staged: wedding photojournalism or photojournalism?

by 6 Comments

Wedding Photojournalism or Photojournalism? What’s The Difference?

This is an unposed, naturally caught moment at Rachael and Carl’s wedding at The Vineyard in Stockcross, Berkshire. It’s recently won a couple of awards from This is Reportage and the Wedding Photojournalist Association. It’s a striking image, and drew some criticism that it must be staged, or was not photojournalism. So I thought I’d explain why I believe this is wedding photojournalism, and how I came about taking this image.

[Read More…]

How to make your own DIY mottled backdrops for a fraction of the cost of buying them

by 5 Comments

For those of us born in the 1970s and ’80s, this new phenomenon of mottled, cloudy backdrops appearing in modern portraits is an odd one. You see, back when we were kids, we had horrendously cheesy family and school portraits taken in front of these bizarrely arranged patterns, so to us, it’s pretty weird to see these painted, cloudy backdrops now grace the covers of Vogue and Tatler.

[Read More…]

How to blend two landscape photographs together in Photoshop

by 2 Comments

Part of the joy of landscape photography for me is standing around and waiting for the light to change. You put your camera on its tripod, compose a shot and wait, taking photos every few minutes, whenever the sky or light or whatever looks interesting.

I caught the tail end of a storm in Santorini, Greece, with heavy clouds blowing over right at sunset. An hour or so later and it was blue hour, with streetlights and buildings lit up. Both photos are below, after being edited in Lightroom using the Lightroom Develop System.

[Read More…]

Do I still need a photography website in 2019?

by 2 Comments

Before the rise of social media and the ubiquity of apps like Instagram, photographers established and flexed their brands through their personal website and blog. The photographer website supplanted the printed portfolio, for the most part, offering photographers a way to showcase their work with a remote audience of photo editors, customers, and fans.

[Read More…]

Photographing sunsets and the Milky Way in in magical Tuscany

by Leave a Comment

Arlington, Texas, was long in the lead when it came to being this summer’s family vacation destination. However, sometime in May we arrived at that we wanted to revisit Italy. Last time we didn’t make it to Tuscany, so there was no doubt that this would be the area to stay and explore. Some friends had recommended agroturismos, that is, wine farms. Initially I had my strong doubts about staying at a farm of some sort, but when it struck me that it was milky way season in Italy in July my misgivings somehow vanished.

After all it was a family vacation where photography would be second priority, so I wasn’t thoroughly convinced that I would get my shots. And besides I had no idea whether light pollution would put an effective stop to my milky way hopes.

[Read More…]

How to grow your Instagram in 2019

by 2 Comments

“How do I grow my Instagram?”

…a question I get probably too much. I’m going to be upfront here – I’m writing this article for my own selfish benefit.

It’s a piece that, rather than spend the time repetitively composing a response (and oh boy, it’d be up to many hours by now), I can just link to for tomorrow when the next person asks me how they can grow their Instagram.

And look, I’m not going to judge you, or scold you, or tell you that perhaps you’re pursuing things for the wrong reasons, or that numbers don’t matter, none of that stuff.

[Read More…]

Eight essential marketing strategies for more successful photography business

by Leave a Comment

Why artists need to market themselves? So that, you the artist, wouldn’t starve to death.

No, but seriously. Otherwise, you risk ending up like Vincent Van Gogh who (in the words of Steven Pressfield) “produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer in his whole life.”

A lot of artists have this notion that they’re the creative person, and marketing belongs to the business world. Some even think it’s evil or dirty to promote themselves, and they don’t want to have anything to do with this” filthy” world.

The truth is, it’s your job to market yourself. You are the artist, and you know how to spread the word about your work. After all, you created it. You can’t rest after creating your art; you need to start marketing it.

[Read More…]

I spent a week photographing concerts with the Canon EOS R and here’s what I think

by 40 Comments

Canon Portugal sent me a Canon EOS R with the Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens for me to test. Unfortunately, it was only possible to keep it for a little over a week, but I still managed to make the first day of the MEO Mares Vivas Festival where I am the official photographer. This gave me the opportunity to test it during the day in good light for the assembly of the venue, but also at night in concert, which was what I was most interested in seeing.

I had already tried some mirrorless cameras, from other brands, and I confess that I was never very satisfied. Certainly, never to the point of wanting to chang I had already tried the Canon EOS R once, but only for a few minutes, which was not nearly enough to form an opinion about it.

[Read More…]

Recent Posts