We've had another awesome week in the world of photography with many artists creating and sharing great images and writing great articles. In this weeks hand-curated list of links we find that Toad Hollow Photography has been searching in all known corners of the internet for content to share here with you. We really hope you enjoy checking out these as much as the Toad did himself in bringing you this weeks list.
TUTORIALS
How to Effectively Transform Yourself and Take Great Self-Portraits – many photographers are self-conscious and prefer to hide behind the camera. In this great tutorial posted right here on Light Stalking, we get to see how to step out from behind the camera and take advantage of tried-and-true methods and techniques to become the perfect model for portraiture.
How to avoid glare when shooting portraits of people wearing glasses – here we find that the simplest solution is the best, as if often the case. This terrific video tutorial shows us how to leverage the “angle of incidence” vs the “angle of reflection” to completely eliminate glare from eyeglasses when shooting portraits. Samples are included along the way to remove all guesswork from this technique, helping to give you confidence to use this method at your next shoot.
How To Use a Gimbal: Minimize Up and Down Motion – gimbals are becoming increasingly popular for videographers as they can produce amazingly smooth video when used correctly. This brief video tutorial shows us how to properly control a gimbal to reduce up and down motions in footage, something that is difficult for equipment to combat natively and is often taken care of by technique while shooting.
How to use gridded strip softboxes as your main light source – this video segment shows us how to use a stripbox and a gridded insert to create amazing portrait photographs. The presenter goes through several different stylizations and techniques on how to use the gear to achieve different results, each with it’s own unique look.
How to shoot great portraits with flash in a tiny space – this brief video tutorial shows us how to use very tight spaces for portrait photography, creating great results. Sample shots are shown as the video moves along, giving you an immediate visual reference to the concept being discussed.
DOF Effects: A beginner’s guide to creative effects – depth-of-field is an important thing to master in many contexts of photography, giving the photographer absolutely control over what is in focus and what isn’t. This short primer article discusses some of the basic premises behind this style, and shows you how to easily take control.
7 tricks and tips to let you get the most out of your smartphone photography – the ubiquity of a cell phone camera is something that simply cannot be ignored, as most of us carry one around in our pockets at all times. This short video presentation takes us through 7 very useful tips to help create stunning images with this small format device, and includes great sample shots along the way.
Posing Models Part 3: 7 Ways to Elicit Natural Hand and Foot Posing – there are some really great tips in here for helping models and subjects pose for portraiture, all while still looking natural. Sample shots are included here to show you how effective these tips can be when applied.
SPECIAL FEATURES
6 beautiful shots of the northern lights over B.C.'s South Coast – this compilation hosted on CBC’s site showcases 6 great shots taken by observers on the west coast of Canada as the aurora borealis dances brightly in the skies above. Each of the shots shared here was taken by a different photographer at a different location, revealing unique aspects of this phenomenon.
Reasons to Love Vancouver Island in Summer: #3 Bald Eagles – Anne McKinnell shares a breathtaking photo essay on the bald eagles that call Vancouver Island home. These amazing birds are beautiful and amazing to observe, and this incredible collection of images takes us right into the heart of the action as the birds go about their daily lives in their natural habitats.
Air Mobility Command Museum – combining my love of museums and all the wonders and artifacts they hold and display with my love for everything airplane related, this special feature from A.D. Wheeler takes us on a whirlwind tour of the Air Mobility Command Museum in Dover, Delaware. A. D.’s eye for composition comes shining through in his portraits of these amazing planes, and at the end of the post we get to enjoy a few minutes of video that take us through the facility to see the highlights.
Photos of Beautiful Old German Pipe Organs Capture Their Massive Size – this collection of photographs comes to us from photographer Robert Götzfried who seems to share the same passion I have in photographing pipe organs. This is a terrific collection of images featuring the amazing and intricate instruments and the unique shapes and lines they create in their wonderful design.
GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY
It's Winter Somewhere – for those of us with absolutely no intention of ever jumping off a cliff on a pair of skis, photography is the only way you can get a feel for what that might be like. The team at Red Bull Photography shares a shot of one such brave skier taken from a terrific perspective looking upward at the athlete as they make the big jump.
8 Seconds – bull riding is an action-packed sport with events unfolding in the blink of an eye making this a hard thing to capture in camera. Michael Criswell does a great job with this at the show he attended, not only capturing the rider as the grumpy bull tries to remove him from his perch, but also capturing some of the expressions of those around him as a few seconds of action go by as fast as the shutter can click.
Brand new Day – long exposure photography can produce amazing results, in some cases taking on a slightly ethereal feel, particularly in the context of water or moving clouds. Adnan Bubalo does a great job with this concept, sharing a shot of a red wood home on the shores of waters with rugged snow-capped mountains in the distance and silky smooth waters in the foreground.
Long Shadows – Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming – the golden light of autumn crosses the face of the Moulton Barn under the watchful eye of the Grand Teton Mountain Range in Wyoming in this great shot from Len Saltiel. Interesting shadows are noted in this shot, a slight deviation from the traditional shots we see of this barn, helping to make this rendition stand out.
I love Firenze – hundreds of years of history comes to life on our screens in this amazing cityscape shot by Gürkan Gündoğdu that features Florence, Italy bathed in warm golden tones. The river that runs through the city creates a perfect leading line to guide you into the picture where so many wonderful details await those who spend time with the image.
Flying Horned Puffin – Ron Niebrugge captures some great details in this shot of a Puffin in flight, capturing a great portrait of this bird as it makes its way across the sky. The feathers on the leading edges of the wings are perfectly sharp, as is the expression on the bird as it enjoys its natural habitat.
EXPO – Ricardo Mateus shares a great landscape shot that reveals a terrific bridge in Lisbon with elements of architectural interest where the bridge meets land. In the far distance the city twinkles under cover of the night, and the long exposure time used to capture the piece turns the waters into a smooth textured detail.
Sunset at Moraine Lake – the landscapes and lakes that are found in the Canadian Rocky Mountains are unique to the area, creating amazing photography opportunities that many enthusiasts take advantage of. Jim Nix photographs the epic Moraine Lake as the sun sets in this piece, taking advantage of the reflections in the deep blue waters of the lake as the rugged and dramatic mountains own the backdrop.
Complicated Bridges !! – a black-and-white rendition of a cityscape featuring the sprawling metropolis of Dubai greets the viewer with this incredible image by H A N A A • T. A beam of light shines into the frame, looking as if it originates from the top of the famous Burj Khalifa, a perfect stylizing cue to add to the image to accent the architectural drama.
Come on people, get up and dance… – the haunting remains of what appears to be a stage and a ballroom now long unvisited takes us on a visual journey into a place that has not heard the sound of music or the footsteps of dancers in what seems like almost forever. Urban Vagabond’s shot reveals wonderful textures in the patina and decay of this once-wonderful space, revealing all the artistic tension that the walls now hold.
Rush Hour on the Thames – the blue hour creates the perfect mood for Jason Row to capture this great shot of the River Thames in London during the evening. A light trail from a moving boat on the river adds a fabulous dynamic element to the shot that also features some of the great buildings the city hosts.
In Wilderness at Midnight – a beautiful brown bear wanders along the shores of a small and still body of water under the glow of light from nighttime in this amazing portrait by Pasi Kaunisto. The candid nature of the shot, along with the shallow depth-of-focus really makes this glorious creature stand out against its natural backdrop.
Orca Male With Mt Baker – the majestic beauty of Mount Baker in the backdrop as a male Orca whale swims in the foreground create a strong sense of artistic tension in this distinctly west coast scene captured perfectly by Randy Hall. People come from far and wide to see the whales as they feed and play in their ocean, and Randy’s shot is a perfect way to enjoy this site from the comfort of your chair.
Evening in the Moravian waves – the hillsides gently rise and fall, creating great shadows that highlight the depth and scale of this wonderful landscape photograph by Daniel Řeřicha. In the upper half of the frame, a ribbon of roadway cuts through the picture, creating zones in the shot and helping to accent the abstract sense of the scene.
Something Abstract – I am not even 100% sure what it is we are looking at here, it could be steel wires holding up a bridge span, or it could be something else entirely. What it is, however, is a terrific abstract shot from Bob Lussier, processed as a black-and-white, taking advantage of the natural lines created by these man-made objects as they appear to reach for the sky.
Castle of dragons – the title for this shot is absolutely spot-on, describing an old castle with gothic stylings, epic turrets and spires that seemingly reach forever upwards. Johannes Hulsch’s amazing composition leaves you with an expectation that at any second, a massive dragon will appear over the roofline as it surveys all the lies below it.
Greenland – a very interesting ice block floats on top of the ocean as brooding clouds and mist seem to make the backdrop totally disappear in this amazing shot from Daniel Kordan. This minimalistic piece reveals little else, leaving the viewer with a sense that the picture may have originated in another realm entirely.
