Category: Photographic Techniques
-
How Lighting Affects Your Background
Over the years, I have discussed various lighting setups extensively on this blog. We’ve discussed the fundamentals at length, but I’ve also presented numerous experimental lighting diagrams and breakdowns. However, one thing has always been consistent across all those articles: the focus of the…
-
Starship Flight 9: Photographing History, Triumph, and Turbulence
When have you felt most locked-in behind a camera? Was it on the sidelines, framing a game’s do-or-die play? Or perhaps glimpsing a rare animal after days of patiently waiting in harsh conditions? For me, it’s the instant all 33 Raptor engines ignite beneath SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle, the…
-
A Guide to Light Painting Photography
Light painting is a great way to approach photography differently, but it can be a complicated process and requires some trial and error to get it right. When done right, you can really maximize the lighting you’re using or, better yet, add a level of surreal lighting to your images. So, let’s take…
-
Breaking Down One-Shots in Cinematography
The Oner – A cinematographer’s boss fight that really tests one’s ability to choreograph a scene from front to back and expertly flex their skills with a camera. While the Oner (or commonly called a one-shot) was certainly always a novelty, with recent technological advances and current trends in…
-
How Severance Filmed One of the Best Scenes of the Last Decade
A week or so ago, my girlfriend and I sat down to watch the season two premiere of one of our favorite shows, Severance. Upon starting the show, we were met with a ~2-minute montage of Adam Scott’s character running through the narrow corridors of Lumen Industries. My girlfriend, a talented writer…
-
Beginner Tips for Your Next Photography Adventure
Nature photography is one of life’s most enjoyable and rewarding passions, but it can also be incredibly challenging and, at times, bearably frustrating. I’ve dedicated many years of my life to an endless pursuit of capturing stunning images of the natural world, and over that time, I’ve learned a…
-
Lighting Styles to Try on Your Next Studio Photoshoot
When it comes to photography, my love for it is built around my passion for shaping light in new and creative ways. So every now and then, when I come up with some interesting ways to light things, I like to share that process with you on this blog. If you’re a long-time reader, you know I’ve done…
-
Grids, Flags, Snoots & Fresnels (Oh My)
When you start diving into the world of lighting, you will likely run into several questions regarding products that are seemingly the same thing – or at least achieving the same thing. How does a snoot differ from a Fresnel? What’s the difference between using a grid, and using a black flag to…
-
A Basic Understanding of Color Theory
If you’ve been a frequent reader of this blog, you’ve probably heard me tiptoe around color theory, and say that I’m not going to go into it further; as a post on color theory deserves a book or several college courses and not something a few paragraphs can do justice. However, it is a frequent…
-
Photographing the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse
The Annular Eclipse of October 2023 provided valuable experience to practice for the 2024 Total Eclipse. Preparing to photograph the eclipse made all the difference in getting the photos I envisioned, as well as actually enjoying the event without being glued to my camera the whole time. I’ll be…
-
Comparing AI-Generated Headshots with Real Headshots
I’ve talked a lot about AI on this blog over the years – from discussing how it will change the industry, to implementing AI-based tools to better your workflow. In short, I’m pretty terrified of what AI is going to do to budgets and jobs in general in both the photography and videography spaces.…
-
Photographing Wildlife from a Kayak
Many of the most compelling wildlife images are taken from as close to the subject’s eye level as possible. For aquatic birds, small marine mammals, and other wildlife that live in and around the water achieving this can be challenging. I have found that photographing these animals from a kayak has…
