The location of most lighthouses allows us keen photographers a unique opportunity to practice all the skills associated with seascape or landscape photography in a setting that is likely to produce some spectacular results. These photos of lighthouses show that if you're willing to wait for the right lighting and compose your shot well, the resulting images can be fantastic. We put this collection together from the great creative commons photographers of Flickr. We love these shots and hope you do too! Photo by Garry Photo by Xavier Fargas Photo by Viamoi Photo by Mic Stolz Photo by John Curley Photo by Macropoulos Photo by Wild Pianist Photo by Stuck in Customs Photo by Wild Pianist Photo by Karl Randay Photo by Jim's Outside Photos Photo by Orvarati Photo by Christopher Chan Photo by Lapidim Photo by James Jordan Photo by Janusz Photo by Xavier Fargas Photo by Caese Photo by Lapidim Photo by Christopher Chan Photo by Giorgos Photo by Taivasalla Photo by Terry Grealey Photo by NapaneeGal Photo by Sachman75 Photo by AGrinberg

Whether you’re a pro photographer or an aspiring amateur, you cannot ignore the fact that one of the most popular places to share photos, talk about photography and learn the art is the internet. And if you’re on the internet, you’re probably going to get a lot of the best photography interaction on social media sites. Here are our list of social media applications that make life so much more pleasant for we photographers – pro and amateur alike. Flickr – No other site has yet come close to it in terms of popularity. This is about the easiest way to share your photos online, not to mention comment (or get comments) on them as well as chat and connect with other photographers. The privacy settings also mean you can keep everything away from public eyes and just use it as a place to store your images. And we even have a LightStalking Flickr group which is awesome! [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Photo by Zanastardust"][/caption] Picasa – Probably the only real challenger to Flickr at the moment is Google’s Picasa. While the site itself is great, it’s the free downloadable software that really makes this setup attractive. It is probably the best free ...

If you’re into landscape photography then you will almost certainly know that clouds can have a massive impact on the atmosphere and beauty of a shot. Whether they are whispy and light cirrus clouds or thick and smoky cumulus, a cloudy day is often the perfect time to pull out the camera. But how do you photograph clouds to get the perfect result? Let’s take a look at some methods you will want to learn and also take a look at some stunning examples! Photo by Garry Let’s Talk Lighting and Camera Filters Perhaps one of the trickiest parts of getting a great cloud photograph is the fact that often, clouds will emit a large variance of light. From the deep dark greys of a storm cloud, you might find that the edges are bright white, especially if the sun is behind the cloud. This can make it difficult to meter the light. If you’re shooting digital, then it won’t be so much of a problem as you can see the results instantly and know if you’ve over or under exposed the shot. You can minimise the chances of getting it wrong by getting your filters right though. The first thing you are going ...

A lot of great photographers struggle to get the word out about their work, if the amount of messages and Tweets we get is any indication. And in the end we think photographers should be doing what they do best - taking photos! Well, we put our heads together and decided to come up with a partial solution. You see, the LightStalking Twitter account is doing remarkably well and is on the cusp of 30,000 followers with close to 500 new fans each and every day. Up till now, we have been trawling the internet for good stuff to tweet to our followers. Now, that's where you come in. If you write a great article on photography or put a new photo (or collection) up at your website and you want a little extra traffic, then here's what you can do. Go over to your twitter account and log in, make sure you’re following @LightStalking, tweet the title of the post and its link and add the hashtag #LightStalking For example, SmashandPeas.com might tweet something like this: 50 Really Impressive Washed Up Photos http://bit.ly/7Mrxch #LightStalking There is no need to @ us or direct message us on Twitter. We will do a search on the hashtag #LightStalking ...

Unfortunately, the contemporary western view of Iraq has been shaped by the terrible events of the last several years. One of the shames of that is that Iraq is such a diverse country with stunning natural beauty - a natural destination for photographers! Even so, a few fantastic shots manage to make it to us. Check out these stunning photos of Iraq. Photo by William Allen Photo by Kurdistan Kurd Photo by William Allen Photo by US Army Photo by Kurdistan Kurd Photo by Gustaf Wallen Photo by Kurdistan Kurd Photo by US Army Photo by Nukeit1 Photo by DVIFSHUB Photo by Gustaf Wallen Photo by WISAM Photo by Nukeit1 Photo by Brown Bear Photography Photo by Ob1Left Photo by Suresh Gundappa Photo by Studeio 5.55 Photo by William Allen Photo by Christine K Photo by Yater

Combining long exposure and moving water often produces haunting images, if you can get it to work. Whether it be streams, rivers, lakes or oceans, the effects can be spectacular. There are a group of photographers mainly centered around Sydney (but also a few other places) who practice long exposure photography on the beaches and rock pools and who are damn good at it. We thought we would show you some of their work. Photo by TimboDon Photo by Sachman75 Photo by Sachman75 Photo by Brentbat Photo by TimboDon Photo by Brentbat Photo by Tricky Photo by Dazza17 Photo by Premasagar Photo by ccdoh1 Photo by Bill Hails Photo by Blemtley Photo by TimboDon Photo by ccdoh1 Photo by Blentley Photo by Blentley

The Sydney Opera House is one of the most iconic and photographed buildings in the world. Yet, despite its massive popularity as a destination for tourists and snappers, it is amazing that people still manage to grab original images of it. As these photos of the Opera House show, it is still very much possible to take a unique photo of an iconic and massively photographed subject. Photo by Vermin Inc Photo by Aaardvark Photo by Carlos Lopez Molina Photo by Christopher Chan Photo by Mackenzi and John Photo by Tony888vo Photo by Chewy Chua Photo by Jong Soo Lee Photo by Vermin Inc Photo by Steve Kay Photo by El Fotopakismo Photo by Mondayne Photo by Kcnikcerson Photo by Montxo Donstia Photo by Triplefivedrrew

A lot of email we're getting suggests that most photography fans feel that they don't know their camera as well as they would like to. Of course that impacts whether you can use a camera to the full potential that it has. To be honest, getting to know your camera is about the most important thing a beginner (or anyone) can do. Just recently the folks over at Digital Photography School released a cool little guide called, "Photo Nuts and Bolts" which is all about getting to know your camera and getting the most out of it. Now let's be clear - getting to know your camera is not rocket science, but it is very very useful to know this stuff by heart and it will help you utilise your equipment to its full potential. Photo Nuts and Bolts not only goes into how image making works, but why. In many cases (such as their great explanation of pinhole cameras) this gives you a much better understanding of a subject. Extremely useful for taking better photos. More importantly, for someone like me, there are a LOT of explanatory diagrams and summary text boxes - this makes it so much easier to understand difficult concepts. I particularly ...

Macro photography that is well done can introduce a whole new world of subject matter to photography fans. As these extreme close-up photos of ants show, there is a beauty that exists at such a level that we rarely get to see it. These are some of the best macro shots we have seen. Don't forget to check out the resources at the end of the post if you want to find out how to emulate these shots. Photo by ViaMoi Photo by Gerald Yuvallos Photo by Jurvetson Photo by Binux Photo by Myrmician Photo by NeilsPhotography Photo by Dincordero Photo by Dincordero Photo by Pedro Moura Pinheiro Photo by Myrmican Photo by Sedeer Photo by Sedeer Photo by Myriorama Photo by Texeiro de Freitas Photo by Andreas Solberg Macro Photography Resources The Incredible Macro Bug Portraiture of Thomas Shahan Dominate Macro Photography With These Seven Short Tutorials Discussion on Insect Macro Photography Tutorials

When you think of jewelry photography, well let’s face it – not many people get excited about it. I was the same. That is until I came across a photographer and jewelry maker on Flickr named, Daniel Proulx. In addition to be an incredibly talented ‘Steampunk’ jewelry maker who (along with his fiancé) runs a successful jewelry making business, Daniel is also very talented at presenting his product with incredible photographs. Daniel’s pictures combine clever prop selection as well as an incredibly interesting subject (I never thought I would say that about jewelry until I found Steampunk) with all of the other lighting and camera skills you would expect of a jewelry photographer. We think the results speak for themselves. If you'd like to get in contact with Daniel or see some more of his great steampunk jewelry and photography you can find him in these places: Daniel on Flickr Daniel's Store on Etsy (to buy these pieces) Daniel on Twitter Daniel on Facebook Jewelry Photography Resources Jewelry Photography Tips Jewelry Photography Tutorial for Automatic Cameras Product Photography Tutorial (Youtube)