In recent months, we have presented various photograph showcases. While some readers disliked them, the majority found them inspiring and ideal for a bad morning at work. In the past, we’ve presented a variety of photography showcases. While some readers hated them, others found them inspiring and perfect for a lousy morning at work. As many of you have requested, it is now time to rectify our mistake.
In recent months, we have presented various photograph showcases. While some readers disliked them, the majority found them inspiring and ideal for a bad morning at work. In the past, we’ve presented a variety of photography showcases. While some readers hated them, others found them inspiring and perfect for a lousy morning at work. As many of you have requested, it is now time to rectify our mistake.
This post contains useful photography tutorials, resources and techniques for different types of photography. Learn how to create the perfect environment and which techniques, principles and rules of thumb are important when taking your next ideal photograph. Please feel free to add more articles to the list in the comments.
We cover a wide range of topics, including high-speed, tilt-shift, black-and-white, motion blur and other techniques. You’ll probably find the tutorials and tips useful in your everyday work.
Smashing workshops will present front-end, design, and UX with live sessions, videos, and friendly Q&A with Brad Frost, Steph Walt, and many more.
1. High-Speed Photography
Celebrate High-Speed Photography This post is meant to inspire you with what can be achieved with high-speed photographs. It also features some stunning slow-motion videos.
Home-made high-speed photography (PDF) Images of high-speed events, such as popping balloons or breaking glass and splashing liquids, reveal structures that are not visible to the naked eye. This guide will help you take high-speed pictures to capture these fleeting events. This is a very detailed guide.
2. Tilt-Shift photography
Tilt-shift photography uses camera movements with small—and medium-format cameras. It usually requires special lenses.
The term tilt-shift is actually a combination of two movements: the rotation of the camera lens in relation to the plane of the image, known as tilt, and the movement of the camera lens parallel to that plane, known as shift. The Scheimpflug Principle is used with a tilt to control the direction of the plane-of-focus (PoF) and, therefore, the sharpness of an image. Shift can be used to avoid the convergence of parallel lines when taking pictures of tall buildings.
A less expensive technique, called tilt-shift mini-faking, involves manipulating a photo of a real-size location or object to make it look like a miniature model.
3. Black and white photography
Black and White Photography Beautiful Black-and-White Photography This is one of the most inspiring posts in Smashing Magazine. It features over 50 amazing works by photographers from around the world.
Darren Rowse offers a short but very useful article on 5 black-and-white photography tips. These include shooting in RAW and low ISO, among other techniques. Consider reading the article Key Ingredients for Black-and-White Images.
Black-and-white photography guide This technique begins before the picture is taken. This article will give you some quick tips to help you achieve the perfect black-and-white landscape. For example, what are the best settings for black-and-white photography? Also, what filters work well for black-and-white landscapes?
Digital Black and White Keith Cooper’s site contains articles about professional photography. It covers black/white photography techniques, image manipulation techniques, tools, articles and camera reviews.
Top 5 Black & White Tips: Five tips that will get you started in the right way. Practice, focus contrast, texture, colour filters, and more. You can also read the article on 12 Ways to Create a Black & White Photograph to learn more.
4. Motion Blur Photos
45 Beautiful Motion Blur Images: A showcase of photos with motion blur. The use of motion blur to convey a feeling of speed is common. This effect can be artificially achieved in a normal scene by using cameras that have a slow shutter. Adobe Photoshop is also useful for this, but sometimes the images can look unnatural or unprofessional.
Many photographers are only concerned with capturing motion blur when they photograph sports or other fast-moving events.
Photoshop Tutorials Create Silky Smooth Waterfalls This Adobe Photoshop tutorial will show you how to create a smooth, silky appearance for waterfalls, just as if they were photographed with a long exposure. A neutral density filter would be required to achieve this.
Long Exposure Photos You can create some very interesting photos using long exposure. You can use it to make an image with a lot of light in low-light situations or to blur moving objects in a picture.
5. Infrared photography
The best near-infrared photos. Near-infrared photos straight from the camera are not always as good-looking and dramatic as normal images. Post-processing techniques are used to enhance the photos.
Infrared photography with a digital camera: Thanks to the convenience of digital photography, you can take pictures at any time, combine them with “normal”, and then see the results immediately. You can also adjust the settings according to your preferences.
The Beyond Visible website is a resource for IR, luminescence and UV photography. You can find a lot of useful information and theory about IR flashlight adaptors. There is an extensive collection of resources related to invisible-light photography.
This article is a huge one with many useful links. It includes a list of digital cameras and IR filters that can be upgraded for IR photography.
6. Night Photography
60 Beautiful Night Photography Examples: 60 stunning examples of night photography created by hardworking and dedicated photographers. Visit their websites and look through their portfolios.
The Nocturnes—The Nocturnes are an organization dedicated to night photography. Tim Baskerville founded them in San Francisco, California, in 1991. They have since grown into a premier source of education and information on night photography.
Troy Paiva, a photographer who has been exploring the American Southwest’s abandoned backroads since the 1970s, has captured the Lost America night photography. Since 1989, he has been photographing it at night by the light from the full moon.
7. Smoke Art Photography
Smoke Photography and Smoke Art: A collection of the best photos and artworks that feature smoke.
Smoke Art Photography: An Introduction In this article, Stoffel de Roover shares his tips on smoke art photography. He describes the setups and techniques that are necessary to create a smoke art photograph.
Video tutorial on Smoke Photography
8. Macro Photography
Philip Greenspun explains how to photograph small objects in close-up.
Reversing Lenses For Macro Photography This is a guide on how to build a lens for extreme macro photography.
Macro Photography: A list of gadgets to help you get really close to the subject.
Captain’s European Butterfly Guide Guide for this unique kind of hunting. (Of course, it can be used outside Europe too).
The majority of these articles are for DSLR owners, but they are also useful for macro photography using compact cameras.
Macrophoto Journal at deviantART.com is A collection of great photos, forums, and technical articles.
Macro Photography Tutorial: A short review of insect shooting and stunning photos by M. Plonsky, PhD.
9. HDR
Please move on if you do not like the photos. No complaints will ever be entertained.
35 Beautiful HDR Photos This post contains 35 stunning HDR images that are beautifully executed. They may appear surreal, overly colourful, or even fake. But they’re not. Remember that all of these images were created from photos. Not a single one is an illustration.
HDR Tutorial HDR How-to guide is mainly for Mac users.
How to create HDR photos with Photoshop CS2
10. RAW Processing
Raw image files are images that the sensor has minimally processed. They are also known as digital negatives (because they perform the same function as negatives and are often used to describe images captured with film cameras. These files require more Processing than negatives.
Phase One Capture One 4: RAW Process Workflow Capture One 4 offers more than a rewritten version of Phase One Capture One LE. Capture One four goes beyond a rewritten Version of Phase One Capture One. It improves the speed and quality of RAW processing and builds on its strengths.
Three of the most powerful and popular tools for RAW Processing are reviewed in detail.
Lightroom Presets: The Ultimate List of Free Adobe Lightroom Presets “The largest, most up-to-date list of free Adobe Lightroom presets. You can never have enough presets, but this list is the most useful for discovering new ones. You can try as many presets as you want, and then let us know your favourites.
