We've had another terrific week of photographs and articles posted online by some of the best writers and artists working today, and here we find that Toad Hollow Photography has been actively looking for the finest links to these tutorials, special features and great photography to share with everyone. This week's list covers a wide variety of topics, styles and images, all hand-selected by the Toad himself for you.
TUTORIALS
5 Little Known Lightroom Tools That Will Make Your Photos Better – these 5 features in Lightroom are some of the most tools built into this incredible post-production software platform, and many folks aren’t aware of them or don’t know how to effectively apply them. This terrific article takes you through these 5 features and gives you some screenshots of each in action to help get you started using them.
10 Quick and Easy Lightroom Tricks Every User Should Know – for those of us who use and love Lightroom as a post-production tool, this list of 10 tricks reveals techniques that every user should be aware of to help improve your workflow. These basic concepts are covered, along with screenshots where applicable, getting you through your work faster and more efficiently, allowing you to focus more of your valuable time in the field shooting.
3 facts about histogram you may not have known – this video presentation is just over 8 minutes in length and goes over the concept of referring to a histogram while shooting. There are many common misconceptions out there in regards to this topic, and this great article covers the reality of how to use this powerful reference tool when shooting.
3 simple ways to backlight your model and make your portraits pop – this is a terrific tutorial that shows you 3 easy ways to add a backlight to your subject in portraiture that really makes a huge difference. Sample shots are included for each of the methods, giving you an instant visual reference to the effects they produce and allowing you to pick the one you like best.
DPI Explained: Everything You Need to Know About Print Resolution – when it comes to printing images, especially large scale pictures, the topic of DPI always comes up and can be quite confusing. This brief video article discusses this concept in a very easy to understand way, showing us all why we can print our images on a super-large format media and still get completely acceptable results.
How to Perform a Sky Replacement in Adobe Photoshop – skies can be a profoundly trick thing to work with in post-production, and in some cases you may want to replace the sky you have in a shot with a new one entirely. This brief tutorial takes you through one method to do just this, with accompanying screenshots along the way to help you see how to do it on your own.
This is What a Cheap Reflector Can Do For Your Portraits – in today’s world of hi-tech gadgets that are all designed to help us take better photographs, quicker and easier than ever before, sometimes it’s refreshing to refer back to old-school items that can make a difference. This brief article discusses the application of inexpensive reflectors and how they can help in natural light situations by showing you in a brief animation the huge difference that can be found with them.
The Best Ways to Overcome Your Fear of Street Photography – Jason D. Little shares some great insights and tips on how to shoot candidly on the streets of any city, overcoming the little voices in all of our heads that try to talk us out of it. These tips are well-considered, and when read alongside some of Jason’s excellent candid street photography are sure to inspire everyone to get out there and try for yourself.
SPECIAL FEATURES
2017 Vancouver Island Motor Gathering – as summer comes to a close here in Canada, we reflect back upon the exciting season we’ve had visiting the local car shows. One of the most incredible shows here on Vancouver Island is hosted at the Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit, drawing exhibitors and visitors from all corners. Join us as we briefly wander the show taking in the sights and crowds of a highly successful show that raised a lot of money for local charities.
Photos of the First Snowfall in the Sahara Desert in 37 Years – when you think of a hot and arid desert, do you often follow that thought with images in your mind of snowfall? Me neither. This terrific special feature shows us a selection of shots that were captured last winter when a very unusual weather event descended upon the region, creating landscapes that are beyond rare to see in person.
GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY
Dubai Marina Gold – Daniel Cheong creates and shares another of his amazing pieces that showcases the dramatic architecture and natural setting found in the city of Dubai. This photograph was taken from an elevated perspective, as many of his pieces are, revealing a look at the city below as a beautiful golden hour unfolds beyond the city lines.
School Nurse – Michael Criswell and a group of avid urbex photography enthusiasts visit the abandoned Muddycreek-Portersville Elementary School where he comes away with this dramatic and really creepy shot of a nurse’s examination room inside the school. Michael uses black-and-white to finish this shot in post-production, taking advantage of the shadows and textures found in this long abandoned room to highlight the overall feel the image creates for the viewer.
Portrait – I believe this portrait is of a fox looking back upwards at the camera of Iza Łysoń. The wonderful expression on the animal’s face reveals the happy and playful personality and character these foxes seem to possess, captured forever in a still frame for us all to enjoy.
artistry of waves – Frank King visits the west coast of Vancouver Island where he finds the perfect spot to observe and photograph the natural wave formations as they ebb and flow on the shores. In the far distance, a lighthouse sitting on the edge of an island outcropping adds a perfect finishing touch to this beautiful piece.
Love Those Kansas Storms – a dramatic swirling vortex fills most of the frame in this storm themed photograph from Derek Burdeny. The intense stormfront creates an incredible anchor in this shot, giving the viewer a sense of the power and fury that nature can deliver to us inhabitants of the world below.
Dilapidated Barn – Endicott, Washington – my love for everything old and weathered finds joy in this terrific composition from Len Saltiel. The raw artistic tension of this scene which features a very old barn that has sat unused for many years as natural decay sets in comes to full life in this terrific shot.
Color Competition – beautiful light streams through the colored trees that line a roadway in the Netherlands in this ethereal shot by Martin Podt. This wonderful photograph shows us the power and effect that natural light can have on a landscape picture.
A look at Neuschwanstein Castle – Jim Nix captures and shares this black-and-white rendition of this world-famous castle in Bavaria that sits perched high atop a mountain. This incredible and massive structure is perfectly exhibited in Jim’s shot that uses black-and-white post-processing techniques to really highlight it’s wonder and age.
I love bled – Gürkan Gündoğdu applies painterly processing styling to this terrific shot of Lake Bled and the medieval castle that sits on the tiny island in the middle of the lake. A rippled reflection in the gentle waters of the lake in the foreground add a perfect finishing touch to this magical picture.
Splendour – a long exposure time was used to create this terrific landscape shot that features the gentle rolling waters of the ocean upon the shore as various rocks and formations create naturally dramatic elements in the frame. Carl Pan delivers a stunning image with this piece that also reveals beautiful colors in the sky as the sun sits level with the horizon in the far distance.
Gilbert Silos at Sunset – Scott Wood finds a row of silos in the heart of a burgeoning suburban neighborhood in Arizona, and captures them as a vibrant sunset unfolds in the area. The careful composition Scott used for this shot removes a lot of the homes from the scene, sharing a view that is very bucolic and rural in nature.
Belém Tower | Lisbon – this amazing stone tower was designed and construction was started around 1514, and today it is an UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the Portuguese maritime discoveries of the era of the Age of Discoveries. Ricardo Mateus uses a long exposure time in this shot to turn the surrounding waters into a layer of silky smooth textures, accenting the drama of the ancient architecture and showcasing the inherent drama of the site.
Forest Haven Asylum – Solar Culture Gallery – Mark Hahn shares a trio of highly evocative pictures taken inside a long abandoned asylum, featuring a strong sense of artistic tension in the untold stories the facility bore witness to over the years it was operational. This poignant shots reveal a certain visual sadness that can only be found in places long forgotten as the natural effects of decay slowly take over.
Sparkin' and Barkin' – some shots appear to be fabricated through the combination of many frames composited together into a single image, as may be the case in this incredible storm themed photograph from Derek Burdeny. In truth, this is a single frame captured in camera that reveals a series of lightning tendrils dramatically making their way to earth amidst the fury of an incredible storm.
Mesmerized by Watercolors – the team at JAYJACY PHOTOGRAPHY captures a stunning shot of a landscape dominated by vibrant colors from a low hanging sun that lingers over the vista. Wonderful natural leading lines are found in the outlines of land outcroppings, creating a strong image that reveals the abstract that nature sometimes produces for those looking for it.
A la file indienne – this shot takes on a bit of an ethereal feel to it as we find a misty landscape with still waters in the foreground with a family of birds quietly swimming past in a single row. Andre Villeneuve’s terrific composition along with the natural mood of the surroundings work in perfect harmony to create this highly evocative piece.
Dell Quey Sunset – incredible hues in the orange palette dance across the day’s skies as the sun sets to greet the arriving nightfall in this great shot from Barry Turner. Barry’s shot features a set of boats anchored in the shallow waters off shore, along with incredible natural cloud formations in the sky to add a perfect finishing touch.
Everlasting – a truly incredible cloud formation forms overhead on Lake Pukaki at the summit of New Zealand’s tallest mountain, Mount Cook. William Patino captures this natural phenomenon as it unfolds in front of him, revealing a side of nature that takes on an otherworldly feel.
Harbor Seal – a delightful harbor seal sits perched atop a small rock formation as a pair of kayakers gently float past in the backdrop in this terrific photograph by Ron Niebrugge. The strong personality and character of this amazing animal are showcased in this shot that is sure to be enjoyed by everyone who loves nature and wildlife photography.
4 Comments
Thank you! I’m ALWAYS honoured to be included with such great photographers. 🙂
Terrific Frank, we are so happy to hear you’ve visited this weeks list and are happy to be a part of it! Thanks for taking the time to swing on by!
Thanks for such an awesome resources. It’ll help me be a better photographer.
It is truly all our pleasure Kain, thanks for taking the time to visit and leave your thoughts!