We've had another exciting week in the world of photography with pictures and posts published from all genres and corners of the world. Let's join Toad Hollow Photography who has searched all over to share some links of tutorials, special features and great photography here with everyone. We hope you enjoy checking out all these links as much as the Toad did in compiling this weeks list.
TUTORIALS
A Short Introduction To Low Level Landscape Lighting – photography can be a lot of fun! Check out this post on Light Stalking from David Chesterfield who offers us a peek behind the curtain for how he creates the fantastic shots he produces. The shots included in this article are well worth the time to check this post out; they are simply terrific!
How to Shoot Portraits in Harsh Noon Sunlight (Make it Your Best Friend) – hard midday light can be a challenging environment to shoot portraits in as the shadows are typically stark due to the hard light characteristics of the sun. With that being said, sometimes we don’t always have control over the time of the session so we do the best we can under the circumstances. This short video tutorial will show you several ways to take back some of the control over the light, allowing you to capture great shots.
How to Master Frequency Separation Retouching in Photoshop – there are countless ways to perform retouching on portraits, most producing terrific results. This fantastic tutorial takes us through one potential method that produces very contemporary looking results that highlight the features of the subject. Screenshots are included for each step, along with the finished results, allowing you to see what to expect if you try this for yourself.
How I Ended Up Shooting an Entire Wedding on the Google Pixel 3 – the industry of photography is changing quickly as we now see the advent of cell phone cameras emerging more and more into spaces that were typically reserved for pros who carry big DSLR’s and a bag of lenses, lights and modifiers. This tutorial shows us how it’s possible to shoot an entire wedding with a cell camera, with pretty great results. We are shooting a huge wedding ourselves this weekend, and I am looking forward to going in armed with all our great gear and lights, but it’s nice to see that there are always alternatives.
HDR techniques seem to still be quite controversial in the world of photography with some people loving it and others, well, not so much. But there’s little argument that the results can be quite nice if done correctly, allowing us to overcome the limitations in sensors due to extreme dynamic range. This tutorial shows us how one photographer very meticulously uses HDR to its full advantage with landscape shots.
Electronic Front-Curtain Shutter Explained – I always knew that front shutter curtains could cause blurriness in images, but I never understood the extent of how much or why until I read this great article on the topic. Sample crops are included all through the article to show you how this phenomenon can impact your images, and how you can potentially avoid it entirely.
10 tips to make great dog photography in under 2 minutes – in less time that it takes to enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee you can learn some great tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your furry photography model. The shots included in this article are great; each one expressing a different part of this particular dogs personality, with aplomb.
Three Tools to Nail Your Exposure Every Time – check out this video tutorial that’s just under 12 minutes long that goes into great detail on how to find the best exposure for your photography. This video presentation covers many different techniques, some of them rather unique.
Using Color to Communicate Ideas – Joe Baraban has been shooting for publications and high-end clients for many years now, and he loves to impart some of his wisdom and insight to those looking for great tips in photography. This post talks about the importance of color and how best to leverage it for compelling shots, and as always Joe includes some fabulous samples from his extensive portfolio to illustrate his point.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Photographer Captures Rare Lightning Phenomenon – sprites are a natural phenomenon that occur during raging lightning storms, creating tendrils of light that reach for the outer circles of our atmosphere at breakneck speeds. These artefacts are seldom seen in life due to these conditions, and here we are lucky enough to see them thanks to Paul M Smith who captures a series of amazing shots.
Brilliant Landscape and Travel Photography by Riccardo Brig Casarico – excellent travel photography is something hard to beat, allowing many of us to immerse ourselves in places we can’t get to physically. This series of great travel shots share scenes found while adventuring, revealing many different wonderful aspects of life from the region.
Poetic Black and White Photography Series – many of us love and appreciate the finer nuances you can only get with black-and-white photography, and it sure is great to see this form of photography alive and well. This short series of shots was capture in Rotterdam under varying conditions that serve the translation from color to monochrome.
Is Every Photograph From Chernobyl a Lie? – This article circles around some existential photography issues, particularly in the field of urbex explorations. I admit the Cherynobl area is high on my bucket list of places I’d love to get to for photography in my lifetime, and even though this article poses some terrific questions for us all to grapple over my desire to head over there is not dampened one bit.
I took a trip to Chernobyl's exclusion zone and photographed it in infrared – and here we have a remarkable example of how a place that receives extensive coverage in the world of photography can take on a wholly different look and feel when viewed through a different spectrum. This series takes us into the heart of Chernobyl with an infrared camera, revealing scenes of this abandoned town that are highly sympathetic to its state.
GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY
look up – Benny bulke shares a great shot from Antwerpen, Belgium that focuses on a helical staircase as Benny looks down into the excellent vanishing point created by this terrific piece of architecture. The finishing touch is found in a lone woman who is walking up the staircase, and at the exact right moment she looks up at the camera for a touch of artistic tension.
PA Capitol Rotunda – ornate details, wonderful architecture and incredible art pieces all converge in the Capitol building in PA, and Michael Criswell is there to capture all these elements and bring them together in a great shot. Michael’s architectural studies always wow with his compositional and post-production techniques, and this shot is a great example.
The prayer – owls are great photography subjects, being often hard to spot and elusive these graceful birds create powerful portraits in the right circumstances. This shot from Stefano Ronchi shares a black-and-white shot of an owl in mid-flight as its wings are just at the bottom of their stroke, helping to facilitate the name of the shot in all of its glory.
A Different View – framing is a powerful compositional tool for photographers seeking to capture strong images, as we see here in this great shot from Edith Levy. This picture was taken inside an interesting room with an outward view, drawing us all into the frame where the artistic tension reveals itself.
Visual…Symmetry – after the horrific damage and loss of heritage and history encountered at the recent fire of Notre Dame in Paris, it’s highly poignant to see incredible shots of the majestic architecture as it existed for hundreds of years before the disaster. Hanaa Turkistani shares a great shot of the ancient textured roof of the cathedral, with beautiful details in the materials and design used to create this magnificent space.
Tender Moment – Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming – I love bears. I really, really do. They are incredible creatures that are often misunderstood in terms of global wildlife, yet they are majestic dwellers of their respective regions, and they are fantastic subject to see in the wild and photograph. This heartwarming shot from Len Saltiel shows a mother and her delightful cub enjoying a moment together.
Storm – this tiny owl is perched on a limb after a heavy rainfall with its feathers sticking up in all directions due to the wet conditions. Tanja Brandt captures a tremendous candid portrait of this little creature in its natural habitat as it looks down with a rather consternated look about it. Absolutely delightful.
A walk in the woods – Andy Hooker (LensScaper) brings us along on an outdoor excursion where he visited a forested area and found a myriad compositions that reveal the essence of the natural environs. Some of the shots Andy shares in this post take on a bit of an abstract feel by focusing in tightly on various features you would expect to find in a location like this.
The king… – Arno van Zon grabs a terrific shot of a majestic stag during the rutting season as colorful flowers create a perfect floor for this animal to stand upon. This perfect composition also captures a glimpse into the personality of this immense animal as it goes about life in the only home it's ever known.
from the river to the peak – the Canadian Rockies are unlike any other mountain range in the world, creating a unique landscape that features thick, lush forests surrounded and overlooked by some of the most majestic and rugged mountains in the world. This shot from Frank King features on the landmark rivers in the region as it winds its way through this magical place as craggy peaks look over the scene.
Land of Mist and Mystery – Jason Row shares a dramatic shot that is quite monochromatic in nature as it focuses on predominantly blue tones of the Greenland seascape as the sun sets for the day. Jason’s minimalist composition features the various ice blocks that float in the frigid cold waters of the region, acting as anchors into this compelling image.
Osprey with Chick, Minnesota – with photography timing can be a crucial thing in terms of capturing compelling images at just the right moment. Mark Paulson does this with this shot of a mother osprey who has come back to her nest with something for her young chick to dine on.
Shadows & Lights – let’s take to the air to see the incredibly dramatic shadows that play on the Tuscany landscape in this awesome drone shot from Dany Eid. This simple shot features a set of compositional elements that are simplistic in nature, creating a bit of an abstract feel framed in a landscape that is only visible from an elevated position such as a drone.
Sunset at the Loop 360 Bridge – Austin, Texas is home to many wonderful features that we’ve all seen in various shots over the years, and this one from Jim Nix is of one of the bridges of the city just after sunset. The light trails from moving traffic create a sense of dynamism and they also highlight the leading line in the bridge that draws us into the photograph.
Eilean Donan Castle – the fantastic castles of Scotland are indeed sights to behold, many of them weathered from hundreds of years of existence in the harsh elements. Daniel Casson captures a great shot of a very dramatic castle and then processes it using cinematic tones to bring out the incredible character of the ancient fortress.