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Your Complete Guide For Photographing Star Trails

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Ever seen those pictures where the stars streak across the sky in a big arc? Or maybe the whole sky looked like it was spinning?

What you saw was star trails. The streaks were light left behind on the sensor or film from the star as it traveled across the sky in front of an open camera shutter. In fact, it only seems that way. What actually being recorded are stationary stars and the rotation of the earth that makes them spin. Kinda like you were standing on a vinyl record while it is playing. (yes, vinyl record, it is a form of ancient iPod).

For me, the images seem to have a certain magic or mystery about them. You must have heard a photographer talking about capturing that perfect moment in time. Well for capturing star trails you will need to capture the perfect hour or two in time. For such amazing looking images the technique to capture them is really quite simple. Keep reading for a complete set of instructions from start to finish.[Read More…]

The LensBaby Composer – A Review by Kirk Tuck

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I am probably the last person anyone want to hand an “artsy” device to. I shoot quick, have not tolerance for fiddling around and I hate the canned look for most “alternate” processes that are inherent in a camera’s performance profiles. So maybe the owners of this site did the LensBaby people a big disservice and then again, maybe not…..

[Read More…]

The $10 DIY Foamcore Softbox

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In this tutorial I will explain how I built the softbox used to take the image on the left. It is a 40cm X 40cm foamboard softbox that accepts a strobe. Kinda similar in size and effect to the Photoflex LiteDome XS which I use a lot out of the studio.

On the left image this softbox was used as key, see this lighting setup for another use of the softbox as fill.

It is a simple softbox to make and it takes about half an hour if you have mediocre cutting skills.[Read More…]

Create Amazing Sparkles Car Light Paintings

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“As long as you hit that wire with the connecting hook at precisely 88mph the instant the lightning strikes the tower… everything will be fine”…

This is just what came into my mind when I saw James Hastie‘s sparkles lightpainting. James was king enough to share his method of making this image. James, the floor is yours: [Read More…]

The Book Shelf

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Long before I started blogging, and around when I picked up photography I read books. In the beginning I read almost any photography book I could put my hand on, and as time progresses I got more picky.

I intend to maintain this list and link to it from the main page for your reference.

Below you will find my favorite reads, the books that helped me learn how to light, how to approach a portrait and that a photograph is more than a combination of aperture and shutter speed. [Read More…]

DIY Camera Hard Case

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In this post, Kevin A Crider will show you how to make a DIY Hard Camera Case the size of a suitcase. And yes, you can get a pro, feature rich version for $800, but if you walk to the closest garage sale, you can make a camera hard case for $5 and the price of the foam.

All this project requires is a suitcase that opens in the middle and a sheet of foam. You may use any suit case, but the ones that open in the middle allows us to store equipment on both sides. [Read More…]

The Complete Guide For Photographing Live Insects At Home

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I started toying around with insect macro photography about 18 months ago. And to be honest, those first few months produced some amazingly bad photographs. But as scientists say, there is no such thing as a failed experiment – as long as it yields data. Well, I’ve managed to amass quite a lot of “data”. And I am grateful that I am able to share some of that knowledge with the DIY community.

As bad as they were, those first few macro shots opened my eyes to the amazing detail and intricacies that lay just beyond the capabilities of our vision. Watching the insects move through the viewfinder was – and still is – a fascinating experience. So, from my earliest attempts, I decided I was going to only shoot live insects.
[Read More…]

Gloves / Photography Tips And Etre Touchy Gloves Winners

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Four days ago, we had a post about making gloves that fit taking pictures in a cold weather. We also had a giveaway for Etre Touchy gloves.

Well, the Etre Touchy Contest is over and we have our three winners. Scroll to the end to find out if you are one of the Lucky bare handed who get a pair of the coolest photog gloves ever. We had 215 submissions, some had some great tips, some were hilarious to read (yup, I read them all) and some were simply opt-in which is also cool. Thanks for everybody who took the time to chim in.

Random.org provided us with the winning numbers. However, just before we announce the winners, I’d like to share some of the really useful tips we got through the comments[Read More…]

The Essential Guide To Portrait Photography: An ebook Review And A Giveaway

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The Essential Guide To Portrait Photography is a new eBook from the home of Digital Photography School, with produced by Darren Rowse. Thank you.

I love this blog, so I am happy that they have an eBook out.  I got a copy (well, an eCopy) I have read it and I love it.

To be completely transparent on this, I got my review copy for free.

Review and giveaways after the jump.

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Light Painting Primer

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The following article is a guest post by Dana Maltby a.k.a. Twin Cities Brightest a.k.a { tcb } an addict to Light Painting.

In a series of posts Dana will cover various aspects of light painting: camera settings; tools of the trade; tip and tricks and “walk through”s for several light painting images.

Stay tuned as the series rolls out.

[Read More…]

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