fbpx

DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

Submit A Story

Magical video shows billions of fireflies flickering through the night

by 1 Comment

The flickering of a swarm of fireflies is one of the most magical things I’ve seen in my life. It always impresses me no matter how many times I see it. I started appreciating it even more lately, as it’s not lo longer a common sight in Serbia.

The biggest swarm of fireflies I’ve ever seen contained around 150 or 200 beetles. So, when I saw this Sriram Murali’s video, it made my jaw drop. He captured billions of these impressive creatures flickering through the night and turned their light show into a beautiful short film.

[Read More…]

Photographer captures magical images of fireflies in Japanese forest

I vividly remember the time when I first saw a swarm of fireflies. Their flickering completely enchanted me, and of course, I also tried taking some photos. However, they were quite… underwhelming, to say the least. But photographer Daniel Kordan has managed to capture the beauty and magic of fireflies. He turned them into a series of images he kindly shared with DIYP, along with his gear and settings that he used to create them.

[Read More…]

7 Critical tips to master forest photography

Dag Ole Nordhaug is a Norwegian landscape photographer who shoots outstanding grand landscape images. He is also considered a very talented forest photographer. Dag Ole skillfully combines mood, visual interest, and life to forest scenes. Many years of exploring the woodlands around his hometown of Trondheim, Norway, has honed his skills and provided him with plenty of experience.

Shooting intimate landscapes, forests included calls for thinking outside the box. Though the resulting images are well worth the effort, and you may learn a thing or two about composition. You will also probably improve your technical camera know-how. Forests offer a multitude of compositions that are new and fresh. While it’s hard to innovate with the grand landscapes’ classics, you can still create unique and personal images.

Social media can be lukewarm in its response to intimate landscapes, but they are well suited for printing and can yield stunning and calming prints.

Finding order in a chaotic forest can be very challenging. What should you look for that offers some rest for the eye? How important is light when attempting to photograph trees? Dag Ole will share some of his insights and images with DIYP.

[Read More…]

Don’t be afraid of shooting in the rain – embrace it and do it often

by 6 Comments

Heading out into the wilderness to shoot photos during the rain isn’t something a lot of photographers think about. In fact, many of them do everything they can to keep their precious babies dry – even if many of them are far better weather-sealed than their owners realise. But going out to shoot in the rain can be a great experience.

In this video, woodland photographer Simon Baxter talks about why he loves shooting in the rain, things you might want to consider when shooting in the rain, and why you should probably do it more often.

[Read More…]

Photographer shoots this misty English wood that looks like an enchanted forest

by 1 Comment

Passion for photography often takes Neil Burnell to remote areas with stunning sceneries. For his ongoing project Mystical, he photographed an incredible Wistman’s Wood in England. The name of this wood reportedly means “eerie” or “haunted,” and looking at the images, I sure understand why. Neil’s photos look like illustrations of fairy-tales, and it’s easy to imagine fairies dancing around tangled, gnarled, moss-covered trees.

[Read More…]

How we made a landscape photo with fog machine and won an award for it

by 2 Comments

I needed a landscape photo of a foggy forest on sunny day, where beams of sunlight were streaming through the trees and creating beautiful sun rays.  The only problem was that it was summer and there was no fog to be had.

So I decided to rent a fog machine and see if we could make enough fog to simulate real fog.  For this task I enlisted the help of my friend Chris Collacott, and together we created a pretty cool image.  Here is how we did it.

[Read More…]

This amazing wilderness timelapse of Canada took 6 weeks to shoot and 9 months to edit

by 4 Comments

Every once in a while, a timelapse comes along that just takes your breath away. You could take almost any frame from such films and it stands up on its own as a still photography. Alive, by German filmmaker Florian “Flo” Nick, is one such timelapse film. It was shot over 5,500km travelled in six weeks exploring the vast landscapes of Alberta and British Columbia. And it’s is absolutely beautiful.

[Read More…]

8 Steps To Creating A Fantasy Lighting Effect

One of my ABSOLUTE favorite things to do in Photoshop is to play with lighting effects. Whether that be to make something glow, create a spotlight sort of effect, or set my hands on fire, I’m always so impressed with the many ways Photoshop allows you to alter lighting. Because of the skills I’ve gathered for bending light to my will, I no longer look at an image I’ve taken and think, “Oh man, I wish I would have brought some flash equipment with me so there could be light spilling through the archway from behind her.” I now just think, “Wouldn’t it be simply fantastic to have some magical light coming from behind her? Yes, yes it would … I think I’ll add some.” Don’t get me wrong it’s always going to look better if there was actually some real light falling on your subject from the get-go, but that’s not going to stop me from adding a bit of illustrative oomf to my images whenever I see fit!

[Read More…]

Recent Posts