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No locations nearby? Look again

A question I get asked often is, ‘where do you find the great locations to shoot at?’ Or ‘how do you find the cool looking location images you use in your composites?’

Well the answer is easy. I get out of the studio and I explore!!!! I recently purchased a compact Sony A5000 camera especially for my little adventures. My main shooting camera, I felt is too heavy and cumbersome for my location scouts. I needed something small, easy to carry and something that still shoots in RAW.

This weekend I went to visit my Grandparents in the coastal town of Scarborough in the UK. Scarborough is a town on the North sea, in North Yorkshire. It was founded in the Viking times, and has had a colourful history. With its castle sat proudly on the limestone cliff, it was the UK’s first seaside destination. I’ve been coming to (my Grandparents) Scarborough for over 25 years, it holds many precious memories. Tales I like to tell my son as we walk along the beachfront. I would claim to know every street in Scarborough or so I thought.

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Have Your Models Hold a Giant Sandwich To Make Them Look Slimmer or Jacked

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Portrait photography is a lie. At best you could call it partial truth.

It’s all about showing what we want to show in a person and hiding what we don’t.

So do I think this is a bad thing? Not at all, which is why I’m sharing with you Peter Hurley’s latest tutorial video on how to get your female models looking slimmer and the men jacked.

Not only will you get better looking portraits, but if you take this advise literally you will also have a giant sandwich to eat after the shoot.

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8 DIY Smartphone Photography Hacks For More Creative Photos

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Hacking is what we (and, indubitably, Anonymous) live for.  So when photographer Richard Schabetsberger releases videos like this, we get all giddy with excitement.  From aerial photography to creative selfies, Richard shares with us eight hacks to get better results and more creatively-dynamic images from your smartphone.

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Top 3 Landscape Photography Techniques To Learn

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Once you have acquired a core understanding of the importance of light and atmosphere in landscape photography (click here for our Top 3 Landscape Photography Tips), there are actually quite a few advanced landscape photography techniques to learn that can help you to progress from good landscape photography to great landscape photography.

In this article, I am going to share what I consider the top three landscape photography techniques to learn.

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How Breaking the Ice Can Lead to Incredible Photos

Asher Svidensky travelled to south China to photograph the Yin-Bou fishermen. Famous for using cormorants birds to fish, and located in a gorgeous setting, the fishermen are quite the attraction for any photographger.

After capturing the “right” and “pretty” images in the same location as every other photographer who goes there, Asher asked to move to another location to get better lighting.

The fisherman immediately refused stating that’s not how they do it, so how did Asher get them to change their mind and end up getting astonishing one-of-a-kind photos? Believe it or not, but with the then-viral ice bucket challenge.

You don’t need to drench yourself in water, however, and you’re not limited to trying it in China, so check out Asher’s story in the video below to see how it can help you become a better photographer.

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Applying The Sunny 16 Rule To Strobes And Mid Day Shooting

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The Sunny 16 Rule is a great addition to any photographer’s toolbox. Basically it means that when shooting on a sunny day @ISO100 you’d be pretty close if shooting @1/100 and f/16. It is a clever rule because it is very easy to remember. 100 @ 1/100.

Photographer Neil van Niekerk points out that it is pretty easy to complement this rule when trying to overcome the sun with an external strobe. And his method means you can get a great exposure with no metering. The idea is pretty simple: setting your strobe to full power and using the strobe’s GN (Guide Number) to figure out where to place the strobe. This would get a pretty good first exposure.

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10 Essentials Nitty Gritties Every Pro Photographer Should Have On A Photoshoot

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As a pro photographer there are all sorts of little tips & tricks that you learn on the job.

Aside from the basics – camera, lenses, lighting etc.  there are those little secrets of the craft that help you go from amateur to pro.  These are little tricks of the trade that I have picked up from my years as a photographer.  One of the things we photographers are great at is “improvising”  I have seen some of my fellow photographer friends come up with the funniest tools for getting the job done.

10 things never to be without when heading out on a photoshoot.  All of these things can be picked up at your local grocery/hardware store.

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Stop Chasing Success. Seek Significance

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“I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.” —Leo Rosten

Financial success is a powerful motivator. And it controls the lives of many. It chooses occupations. It dictates how time, energy, and resources are spent. It influences relationships, schedules, and families. To some, it even becomes an all-consuming passion that leaves broken people and morality in its wake.

Unfortunately, it is not the greatest call we have on our lives. In fact, compared to significance, it fades quickly.

Consider the limitations of success:

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Seven Ways to Improve What You Upload to Instagram

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Instagram’s become a staple in the average smartphone user’s app drawer. Where it once started off as a tool to enhance and showcase your phone photography, however, it has now arguably taken over as a complete social network altogether. With the introduction of direct messaging, the ability to tag other people, and the all around influx of people simply posting up pictures of what they’re doing at the moment, it’s become clear that the app isn’t just used as an artistic tool anymore. It’s become a form of communication.

But that’s not a bad thing at all. With how much potential the app now holds, Instagram can truly bring something to your following as a photographer. What matters is both how you market yourself and the content that you make. This post won’t necessarily help you with the former, but it can definitely give a few tips on the latter. When Instagram was first released, smartphones were still a new thing; not everyone was able to own one, and taking pictures with a phone’s camera was still more of a novelty thing; with how many different toy-cam styled filters the app offered, it got the job done when it came down to giving a bit of vintage spice to your pictures.

Even Instagram, however, knows that things have changed; in the past few months alone, they released an update allowing an entire editing package and even a hyperlapse app. And it’s because smartphone photography is becoming more sophisticated. As the world’s population becomes virtually void of flip phones, more and more people are starting to use smartphone cameras as their primary lens. And with Instagram being possibly the most popular photo-based social app out there, I decided to throw my two cents out there for those of you who want to make the best of it. This doesn’t have to be about getting more followers, and it doesn’t even have to be about having a professional photography presence on the app. If you just like posting pictures on the app and want a few good tips on how to make them a bit more perfect, then maybe I can give you a few tips here.

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Essential Night Landscape Photography Tips from Chris Burkard

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Today’s post comes from extraordinary surf and landscape photographer Chris Burkard, who was recently featured by Smugmag’s short film, Arctic Swell. Chris has made it his life’s work to find wild, remote destinations and then capture the juxtaposition of humans in these environments. The world is an oftentimes harsh, humbling, and magical place, and Chris wants to photograph it all.

He shares his essential night landscape tips below. You can browse his portfolio and print store on his site.

It’s hard to beat the enchanting feeling of star gazing at a clear night sky. You soon become lost in its beauty like a giant kaleidoscope full of shooting stars, planets, and glow from the setting sun or nearby cities. I’ve traveled to countless countries over the past ten years and some of my fondest memories occur long after the sun has set. Whether it’s camping near my home in Big Sur or witnessing a rare northern lights show in the Arctic, I’ve had the privilege and challenge of documenting these night landscapes.

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