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Gear really doesn’t matter, its all about the story

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Photography is a wonderfully dynamic form of expression. It is technical, artistic, timeless, evolved. We are in a phase in the industry where cameras and lenses are being designed to take images of mind-blowing quality. They are getting sharper and producing better color than ever before. Autofocus systems are to a point where you can tell the camera which eye to track. The focus of the industry has undoubtedly shifted toward technical perfection.

However, amidst the ever-improving image quality, we often lose the emotional connection that images from generations past have. The more we focus on how sharp the lens is and what settings someone used, the more we forget about why we started taking photos in the first place.

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Powerful portrait of a twin with his brother’s ashes wins Portrait Masters competition

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Among hundreds of photos I scroll through every day, it doesn’t happen often that one image captures all my attention and sends shivers down my spine. But a powerful photo of Wellington-based photographer Sarah Simmons managed to do it.

She captured the twins’ connection, the celebration of life a heart-wrenching grief in a single photo. And this is the image that won Portrait Masters contest among 7,000 other entries.

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Welcome to Marwen is a movie telling a touching story of a miniature figurine photographer

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This December, Universal Pictures is releasing an unusual, original movie inspired by photography. Welcome to Marwen is announced as “the most original movie of the year,” and it tells a true story about a man who found courage and restored his broken spirit through photographing miniature scenes.

Staring in Welcome to Marwen is Steve Carell, who was nominated for Oscar in 2014 as a lead male actor in Foxcatcher. Robert Zemeckis is the director, and you may know him for Forrest Gump, Flight and Cast Away.

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Photographer captures complete strangers as they connect in front of his lens

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Have you ever asked a complete stranger to take their photo? Have you ever felt connected with someone you’ve never seen before? It can be strange, right? New York-based photographer Richard Renaldi focuses his project Touching Strangers around these situations.

Richard finds random strangers in the streets and poses them like they’re family, friends or even partners. The result is an incredible series of photos which shows the connection we can form with others even though we’ve just met.

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Here’s how to use light to convey different emotions in your work

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There are plenty of factors that can convey the emotion want to express through your image. While light is one of the essential components for creating a photo in the first place – it also contributes a lot when it comes to the emotional impact. In this video, Jay P. Morgan shares four aspects of light that help communicate the emotion in your work. He will teach you how to use them and turn light into a powerful tool for conveying emotions in your photos and video.

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This photographer doesn’t just find locations, he builds his sets from scratch

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Many times, planning and preparing for a shot requires a fair amount of time. But photographer Nicky Hamilton raises preparation to another level. He approached his latest project The Lonely Man like a painter with a blank canvas. He didn’t just find the location, set the lighting and took the shots. He built each of his sets from scratch, for every picture in the series.

It took him 3 years to complete the project, with around three months for each setup. His process is detailed: first he sketches the idea, then he pre-visualizes in 3D, where he test lights the scene and plays with the pictures color palette, scanning in sample materials such as wallpapers and carpets. Next he builds the set (based on the 3D builds measurements), set dresses, props styles, pre-lights the scene. And then he finally takes the photo, which is completed by some retouching and a grade. It’s a lot of effort, but it is well worth it.

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Watch: How to truly make the eyes “windows to the soul” in your portraits

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Catching the mood and the spirit of the moment may be one of our primary tasks as photographers or videographers. Yet, we may also be creating them ourselves. One way or the other, one ingredient is essential: light. And this wonderful video from Dedo Weigert will tell you about the importance of light in the “windows to the soul” – the light in the eyes.

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Photographer Shares Her Emotional Turmoil In Compelling Self Portrait Series [NSFW]

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One of the hardest things to find in today’s society is real, unabashed honesty.  There’s no shortage of people spouting their views and opinions, but very rarely do we see beneath the surface or reveal our true selves to those around us.

Samantha Geballe is an exception to the rule.  The fine art and conceptual portrait photographer explains that she strives to “explore human emotion from the inside out.”  Samantha, who has long struggled with self acceptance and body image due to obesity, took a step of courage to convey her emotional struggles to the world through honest and revealing self-portraiture.  While art is often reflective of our inner selves to some degree, we are often not willing to become this vulnerable and real.

(Warning:  Graphic content after the jump.)

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