How to get more followers on Instagram
Read moreIt certainly helps if you are famous and able to take advantage of synergies with other social medias. But it’s not necessary. You can get many followers simply by posting good images and producing a great feed. Many successful Instagramers are rather anonymous outside Instagram.
I presume it’s an advantage to get followers who are genuinely interested in whatever type of images or motives you post. Consequently, the first advice is to analyse and define your target market. Where are they geographically? What feeds do they like? What are the typical motives? What do the successful Instagramers do in (more…)
Keep your eyes on the eyes!
Read moreIt’s in our genes – eye contact! A portrait can look any way as long as the eyes are sharp.
Eye contact is obviously something that catch people’s attention.
A long exposure can give a better light, especially with live candles. Here we turned of the lamps and used a couple of Speedlite flashes to freeze the image and make the face sharp. Exposing for about a second created a better background and gives some reflected light from the screen on the computer.
It have often occurred to me how easy it is to be grabbed by eye contact, not only in the flow of social media, but also in reality. It’s a magic moment when you suddenly (more…)
Five P’s for better portraits
Read morePortraits are probably the biggest and most important discipline in photography.
This is the image when just pointing and shooting, letting the camera do the work. Expose for the skin of the motive. (Klick on any image for large size).
There is not one single recipe for good portraits. If you are shooting an old man you may want to highlight wrinkles and details in the skin, while young women often are edited too look as beautiful and flawless as possible. But please feel free to break all conventions.
There are some general aspects you need to consider in order to create a good portrait. (more…)
Cinemagraphs – How to create living images
Read moreYou have probably seen them – still images with movements within. Water flowing through a landscape, fountains, waterfalls, women’s hair moving in the wind, dogs and cats blinking and so on. They are called cinemagraphs. This is about what it is and how you can make them yourself.
How to create a cinemagraph in Photoshop
Read moreMount you camera on a tripod and shoot video. The trick, to do a still image that is only partially moving, comes later in Photoshop. But it is important to plan the shoot in advance. Otherwise you risk winding up with worthless videos.
The cinemagraph should have no beginning and no end. In the simplest of examples it may be a forever flowing waterfall or a fountain. All you have to do then is to (more…)
How to create beautiful long exposure images
Read moreWould you like to take beautiful images of dramatic clouds, creamy water, light trails after cars and the night sky? It’s easy. Here is how you do it.
You need a tripod. It is sometimes possible to place the camera on railings, stones or other objects, but a good tripod is the most important thing to have, if you want to shoot long expo images.
Sometimes a motive that is rather boring can be very beautiful if you just prolong the exposure with a few seconds or minutes. But using long exposures do not compensate for (more…)
7 Smartphone Photography tips and tricks
Read moreThe guys at Cooph gives great tips. Here is some simple but inspiring stuff for better smartphone photography. Why not pay them a visit at www.cooph.com?
20 rules for better sunset photography
Read moreShooting sunsets is like all photography about the light, only more so. I’ll try to give some basic rules that will improve your sunset images and some personal tips that I believe will be useful for you.
If you are using your iPhone you should use the HDR-function. It will then take two exposures and merge into one image with better tones in sky and shadows. You should also keep the lens as clean as possible.
Rule no 1: There are no rules
Sometimes perfect is boring. Having said that I encourage you to break any rules that I suggest (more…)
How to make beautiful HDR images
Read moreIt has never been easier to take beautiful HDR-images than now. We explain what it is, how you can create real HDR-images and how to cheat and create nice HDR effects from one single exposure.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) is a technique to create images that is closer reality, how the human eye perceives a view. Our cameras have a limit to the luminance range it can render. The dynamic range is shorter.
We have all taken images of sunsets, where the sky is white and the rest black. That’s a perfect case for (more…)
7 tips for using household objects to create photography effects
Read moreIn this video by Cooph you’ll get tips on using among other things stockings, lighter aerosol, a mirror or a tablet to create cool effects for photography.
Please let us know if you have tips on your own. And don’t forget to check out Cooph. It’s a community for photographers with lots of interesting content.
How to take better travel pictures
Read more15 tips for better travel photography.
Use the flash at sunlight to enlighten shadows. At night it’s better to avoid using flash.
The vacation is probably the time when we take the most pictures. Shooting travel images is however not always easy, so here is some basic advice which may help you get more satisfied with your travel photography. (Click on any picture to see it in larger size).
1. The equipment
It’s important not to (more…)
How to take better pictures of children
Read morePhotographing children – is it extreme action or portrait photography? I don’t know, but here are some ideas for you who like to photograph children.
I have one portrait from when I was a child. It’s a black and white image of me standing in strange clothes, looking a bit afraid and shy, wondering what’s happening.
Back then parents took their children to the photographer for a take in the studio. The images were often of great quality and lasted very well, compared to amateur images from the time. But parents of today are not likely satisfied with those constrained poses and artificial images of their kids.
When doing research for this article I have found that there are basically as many tips as there are photographers out there, so here is my version.
The setting is chosen. (Click in any image for larger size).
Before the take
Ask the parents to use clothes that the children are comfortable with. Bringing a favourite toy may also be clever. It’s also better to choose not so colourful clothes, if possible. After all, it’s the children we want to photograph. (more…)
12 places for sharing your images with the world
Read moreHere are the web applications for getting feedback on your images from the entire world, or just to find some inspiration.
Most people knows Instagram, but there are many more places where you can post your images and get feedback on your work. In some cases you can even sell your images or use the applications to backup your images and much more. Here is 12 apps and places to share your work. (more…)
Seven simple hacks for photoghaphers
Read moreYour own creativity is the most important tool for better photography. Here you’ll get tips on how to turn:
- An egg timer into a time laps rig.
- Some plastics and rubber bands into a filter for arty effects.
- Vaseline into a filter for cool vignette effects.
- An old Tupperware can and some transparent paper into a flash diffuser.
- A piece of string into a tripod for steady freehand shooting.
- A piece of cardboard into a bokeh effect filter.
This video is by COOPH, a community for photographers.
How to photograph products for webshops and advertising
Read moreProducts are probably after humans the most photographed motive. This is how to think and how to doo when shooting products.
There is more to consider when shooting products then you think. In most cases you associate product photography with high quality images of packaging, perhaps a plastic bag with content, a bottle of whine, a watch or camera. You see these images too often in advertisements and web shops.
They may be very professionally made, but they still don’t doo for all purposes. When you see it in advertising they usually have only one purpose, brand recognition. The advertiser wants the viewer to remember the bottle when he or she is in the store, trying to select a product.
The #1 rule for commercial product photos
The images are often used in commercials and then the fundamental rule is to (more…)
How to photograph events
Read moreEvent photography has special requirements on both you and your equipment. I’ll walk you through a typical event with the following evening party and what to consider in each situation.
You must not only satisfy the customer, when shooting events. It is equally important that speakers and visitors alike are pleased with the photos as well as your presence at the event.
Otherwise you’ll probably not work for the same customer nest time they arrange something.
Some general guidelines for event photography: (more…)
How to photograph night images
Read moreThe day has 24 hours, and if you believe daylight is necessary for shooting nature, street and city images, you are missing out on a lot. The night is full of rich and vivid colours, and motives that may seem dull and uninteresting at day can be beautiful and exciting during night.
Clouds can be just as beautiful at night. On this image they are illuminated by lightning,
You can compensate for the lack of light by using (more…)
Editing in raw – the greatest step towards better photography
Read moreThe greatest improvement, from shooting with your mobile to using a digital SLR, is probably the ability to use raw format. The advantages are great and many.
The information from the image sensor in your camera needs to be interpreted in order to produce an image. The question is if you are leaving it to the camera or if you are doing it yourself. If you want to do it yourself you need to shoot in raw format. You’ll find the rewards amazing. (more…)
How to take better selfies
Read more
The finished image, a classic portrait. Lots of blur on the wrinkles and light, soft images are often preferred to dark and hard ones.
The image of YOU has never been more important than now. Today you get checked up on your favourite dating site, LinkedIn, Instagram and FaceBook before you actually meet new someone. Wouldn’t it be sad if people made wrong presumptions just because a lousy image? That is why the profile images on your Internet pages are extra important.
First of all – your looks is NOT something you were born with. IT’S A CHOICE! There is very much you can do to appear good on photo, some of which we will go through below. As illustration we’ll use a hopeless example, namely me, so you can see for yourself that I’m telling the truth.
Taking decent photos is a basic knowledge today, just like writing and simple calculations. Here is some advise for those of you that missed the selfie lesson in elementary school. (more…)
How to use your on-camera flashes as studio lighting
Read moreWe tested a kit with stand and umbrella with two ordinary on camera flashes. You can easily get much better portraits by using your ordinary flash like the pros use studio strobes. It is also very light equipment that will fit in a common camera bag.
In addition to your camera you need a couple of light studio stands, hot shoe flash adapters and umbrellas- If you already have one flash you need to get one more.
The flashes have to support (more…)
How to turn your living room into a photo studio
Read moreMost of us have visited a photo studio at some time, but very few actually bothered to turn the living room into one. So we did. What should you keep in mind? What do you need? How difficult is it?
