The human eye is incapable of seeing infrared light, so Infrared photography is truly a way to show your audience something they can never see with their own eyes. This guide serves as an introduction to getting started with digital infrared photography.
This is how I meter and expose landscapes for color film
Looking back through my archives, I realized that I’ve covered topics like film selections and scanning film but to date I’ve skipped one really important part: metering and exposing color film. This is something I get quite a few questions about so bear with me while I try to be very thorough and cover topics from different lighting conditions and how I would meter with the various film types, both color negatives and slides. While graduated neutral density (GND) filters deserve an entire post for themselves, I’m going to have to touch on that topic as well since they are a critical part of my film exposures.
As a disclaimer, I’m going to be covering my methods for metering. These may not be the methods you’ll read about in most books but I’ve found them to be both effective and extremely quick which is crucial when the light is changing dramatically. It’s come to a point where metering is mostly second-nature to me and takes up a very small portion of my workflow.
This amazing storm timelapse makes rainclouds look like floating waterfalls
When I’m heading out location scouting or to do a shoot, we often drive through rain 3 or 4 times before we get there. The weather around here is full of all sorts of different microclimates, some small, some large. So it’s not uncommon to see columns of rain coming down in the distance.
Rarely, though, are they as dramatically beautiful as they are in this video from photographer and filmmaker Mike Olbinski. This timelapse film took over 85,000 frames and 36 days of shooting to complete. It’s stunning work, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Are filters even necessary for landscape photography anymore?
This is a topic that seems to come up every few years. As sensors increase in dynamic range, ND grads sometimes aren’t so essential. Raw processing software becomes more capable with each new release. Even filters that cut through haze aren’t always needed. But what about things like circular polarisers and big ND filters for super long exposures?
In this video, landscape photographer Thomas Heaton offers his insight and thoughts on the question. When it comes to polarisers, Thomas is of the opinion that they absolutely are necessary. It’s an opinion I share. The function that they serve just cannot be reproduced in post. But what about the rest? Watch the video to find out.
In August, the Netherlands turns purple and this is what it looks like
When photographers think of my country they think of windmills, Amsterdam and tulips. These are generally the most photographed subjects in the Netherlands. What they don’t know is that my country turns purple in August. It usually starts mid or early Augusts and ends till the end of August. It turns a lot of areas completely purple.
What am I talking about? The heather plants. Compare it to the France Lavender fields that start a couple of weeks earlier in July. The purple heather fields in the Netherlands are a dream for any landscape photographer. Combine them with mist and you’ve got yourself a dreamscape that looks to be coming straight out of a fairytale. The misty mornings usually start in August also, when it gets cold at night and warm during the day. The temperature along with humidity makes for low fog that looks great combined with the purple heather.
Protect your gear from rain and snow for less than $1
These days, most cameras and lens build quality is pretty high. Even if not completely weather sealed they can still take quite a lot of abuse from nature. Sometimes, though, you do want to take the extra step to protect your kit.
Landscape Photographer Benjamin Jaworskyj has a great tip to help cover your gear at virtually no cost. I used to use one of the more expensive solutions. It worked rather well, but it always did feel like overkill. This solution is much easier, and uses less room in your camera bag.
Dangerous Photographers at the Cliffs of Moher
I arrived in Ireland a couple days ago, and I have been taking plenty of photos along the way. I’ll post them in future articles, but there is something more important to discuss for now: the dangerous, idiotic behavior I saw at the Cliffs of Moher.
The Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland’s most iconic sights. At upwards of 700 feet (210 meters) tall, and dropping directly into the sea, it is no wonder that they are such a well-visited place. Unfortunately, as in Yellowstone National Park, this popularity comes at a price. Not everyone follows the established trails rules, and several people die each year falling off the cliffs; in fact, to warn visitors of the danger, a memorial statue was placed at the path’s trailhead.
Keep Taking Pictures After Sunset!
Every once in awhile I find myself somewhere where there is a large number of people watching a sunset – and where there are people watching a sunset, there are people taking photos of it.
One interesting trend that I have noticed over the years is that as soon as the sun drops below the horizon, everyone puts their cameras away.
That’s it – show’s over – good job nature, nothing more to see here.
We all love a good sunset – but the best photos can often be captured after sunset – so in this article I want to show you some before and after examples of photos taken after sunset to hopefully inspire you to keep your camera out after the sun goes down.
Ansel Adams’ biggest secret to stunning photography
Ansel Adams was one of those people that becomes more and more fascinating the more you learn about him. Each bit of information you gained made you want to learn even more about either the man himself or photography in general.
In a video recently uploaded to Advancing Your Photography’s YouTube channel, host Mark Silber interviews his son, Michael Adams, and looks at how Ansel discovered what became his biggest epiphany in photography.
What the heck is hyperfocal distance?
I often get the feeling that photography is talked and written about as if its practitioners have an innate knowledge of the terms involved. Any craft or profession comes with its own specialist language, but if you’re new to it—and even if you’re not—you can often feel overwhelmed by the terminology, let alone the technicalities of the medium. Thinking back ‘hyperfocal distance’ is one of the terms that most baffled me.
You will most likely hear ‘hyperfocal distance’ mentioned in relation to landscape photography. It describes a mathematically calculated sweet-spot that, when you focus there, maximises the depth-of-field across your scene. For, while you might believe that using a small aperture and focusing at infinity would do the job, it doesn’t.
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