As another terrific week in photography passes us by we find that Toad Hollow Photography has been looking all over the internet for tutorials, special features and great photography to share here with everyone. This weeks list is full of great content from some of the best people working in the field today, and includes some interesting articles and tutorials, along with the usual list of great photographs to look at. We really hope you enjoy checking out this weeks list as much as the Toad did himself in creating it and posting it here for you.
TUTORIALS
Start Remembering the Background To Enhance Your Photos – Here’s How – it is really easy to miss the details in the background when setting up a composition to shoot, yet in the final picture this can be a critical element to consider. This great tutorial posted here on Light Stalking talks about how important this is to factor in when setting up a shot, and how to get the best results possible.
Create Your Photographic Lighting Style by Understanding Six Qualities of Light – once again we find that having awesome sample shots to analyze while reading a tutorial can be a very powerful tool for communicating the concepts to the reader in this terrific post. Each quality of light is discussed and exemplified from two perspectives of extreme to show you how these qualities have an effect on the produced images, allowing you to have finer control over how your end results turn out.
How To Choose the Right Lens for Your Video Gimbal Rig – as more of us get into video production in our image work, the popularity of gimbals is increasing as they make an incredible difference in the quality of the footage we capture. Choosing the right lens for your application is key as many of the factors that affect still photography are different in the world of video. Check out this great video tutorial for some very useful tips and tricks.
Fred FaulknerUsing selective color in Photoshop to create better portraits – learning how to manage colors selectively in Photoshop is a powerful skill to understand, allowing you to have fine control over the hues and colors expressed within your imagery. This great tutorial covers this feature by including screenshots of Photoshop in action along with a sample photo being worked on.
How to Build a Great DIY Lightbox for Under $50 – things don’t always have to be expensive or complex to work well, as shown in this short tutorial that shows you how to build a DIY product photography lightbox using materials available at most hardware stores. This inexpensive approach to solving a problem works very well, allowing you to focus on getting the shot you want.
Top 5 Tools for Smartphone Video Journalism – whether you are vlogging or performing journalistic services, knowing how best to take full advantage of your smartphone video camera can be very helpful. This article covers 5 tips that can make a huge difference in the quality of work you create using these powerful and portable tools.
A Primer for Effectively Using Leading Lines in Photography – this video primer gives you some great insights on how best to leverage leading lines in your photography for maximum impact. The sample shots that are included as the presentation continues are all excellent examples of how to do this, allowing you to quickly visualize the concepts and use them in your own practice.
How to Use an Ancient Photo Trick to Create Surreal Digital Photos – I’ve never seen this procedure in action before like this, and the results are rather astonishing. By using and separating red, green and blue channels in layers in Photoshop with 3 source images, you can create almost iridescent colors that add a magical effect to the overall picture.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Huangshan China Sepia Collection – we join Anne McKinnell in this blog post that features a collection of her photographs from the Yellow Mountains in Huangshan China, all processed in sepia tones to really highlight the drama and rugged beauty of the region. These detailed shots often find the mountains playing peek-a-boo with the clouds and mists that linger in the region, adding a great sense of the ethereal to the collection as a whole.
Daniel Valledor: Street Photography Inspired by Cinema – this is a great set of black-and-white candid street photographs, shot from the perspective of a cinematographer. The results of bringing this kind of unique perspective to this genre of photography is terrific, and the article also includes a little insight from the artist to shed some more light on how his background affected his work.
GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY
Dubrovnik Postcard <3 – you just don’t see masted ships enough in this day and age, there is something inherently romantic about them. This great shot comes to us from Julia Dávila-Lampe and features a great tallship with a muted reflection in the waters in the foreground for added effect.
Norbert ReimerHalfway There – Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, Florida – for those who love abstracts expressed in geometry, this downward looking perspective of a spiral staircase inside a lighthouse is sure to please. As the structure turns it’s way down, a terrific vanishing point is created that draws you right into the heart of the frame in this terrific shot from Len Saltiel.
Cute Fox Kit – this little fellow is so adorable I’d love to bring it home, although I am not quite certain our cats would agree. Roeselien Raimond captures and shares here a wonderful portrait of a young fox in perfect natural light, making for a shot that is sure to melt your heart.
Capitol Star – Michael Criswell shares a fresh shot of the Texas Capitol building, using an iron railing as a frame looking outwards. Behind the star centered in the railing we see the amazing architecture of this important place looming tall, revealing the size of the overall structure that holds the spirit of state governance.
Clarity at 8:10 – Bled Lake is one of those magical places that most landscape photographers have on their bucket list, and for good reason. The scenes changes as the seasons do here, with beautiful light accenting the ancient monastery that sits on a tiny island in the center, as shown here in this wonderful photograph by Adnan Bubalo.
Tongass Brown Bear – I am a huge fan of portraits of large bears in their habitat, often finding a glimpse into the spirit of these large, amazing creatures that reveals a somewhat solitary life lived in the far regions of the wild. This terrific example of this comes to us from Ron Niebrugge who captured this shot of a bear popping it’s head out from under water in a park in Alaska.
Static Journey – this frozen landscape captured in Iceland is processed as a monochromatic piece by Daniel Herr with dark blue tones dominating the frame. A rugged set of mountains surrounds this spot as the still waters create a haunting canvas for the natural elements to stand out against.
Magic Circle – an amazing urbex themed shot from Urban Vagabond is shared here in this post, featuring incredible architectural features of the inside of a building that are hard to believe have been abandoned. To complete this composition, we find streams of light coming through gorgeous windows that cast shadows of the banisters from the railing at the top of an elegant staircase.
Theodor Heuss Brücke – a very unique bridge in Germany creates the perfect subject for an architectural study in this moody black-and-white shot from Ole Steffensen. The bridge itself creates a sweeping natural line into the picture, where in the distance a thick fog envelopes the buildings in the distance, adding to the dramatic feel of the picture.
Entrance Island Lighthouse . . . – this romantic shot comes to us from ƊƦคƓ๏ƝŦlץƊгєคɱʂ88, a local photographer to Vancouver Island with a great eye for composition. This lighthouse is well-known to the folks who live in the region, and here we find a wonderful composition that takes advantage of the white and red structures that comprise that site.
Rush Hour – Jennifer Bin uses a downward looking perspective along with muted colors and tones to create a very striking abstract image based on highways in a city. Cars add artistic tension to this shot as the natural lines created from the roadways guide the viewer through the image itself.
afternoon along the coast – Frank King captures this beautiful landscape shot on the coast of Ireland using an elevated spot to create a sense of depth and scale to the surroundings. Leading lines from the coastline along with a fence create natural lines that allow the viewer to make themselves present in the scene, almost creating a feeling of ocean breezes lifting gently off the waters.
Good morning trolls! – a long exposure is used for this photograph that features a river winding it’s way through a forested landscape. The waters of the river are turned into a silky texture due to the technique used to capture this shot by Jørn Allan Pedersen, creating a surreal feel from a dramatic setting.
She’s Got It Right! – Barbara Youngleson’s shot features a wooden pier that juts out into the never ending ocean in the distance with a young lady suspended in a hammock underneath the pier enjoying time communicating with her phone. There is a distinct feel of warm ocean breezes in this shot that also takes advantage of the pier, using it as a strong leading line in the frame.
The Pharmacy – museums can be a perfect place to find inspiration and great photo opportunities, as seen in this old-world feeling shot shared here by Ole Steffensen. An old pharmacy is recreated in this exhibit, and the textures and details of the age of the set comes to full life for all to visit and enjoy.
Cougars – a pair of cougars sit in what appears to be a grassy meadow of sorts, contemplating something rather important in this amazing portrait from Milan Zygmunt. The amazing details and clarity of the large cats is perfectly framed by the shallow depth-of-focus which really makes them stand out from their natural backdrop.
Standing Tall – this shot was captured at night in Milwaukee by CJ Schmit using a long exposure technique. The results of this are a stunning architectural study captured with an ultra-wide angle lens, revealing the great lines of the contemporary architecture within the context of the city.
Chain Reaction #7 – in this shot we journey to an industrial area in Japan where a chemical plant pops to life in this crisp and detailed photograph by Peter Stewart. The rig has various zones highlighted by different colors, making the structure stand out in the low light conditions the picture was taken in.
Back Lit Monarch, Minnesota – the Monarch Butterfly is a beautiful and amazing creature with wonderful colors and a delicate disposition that photographs perfectly, as shown here in this shot from Mark Paulson. In this composition, the wings are backlit, creating an almost translucent surface that reveals the natural color of it’s wings.
