Category: Photography

April 29 2016

What Makes a Great Photograph?

Here’s an excerpt from a book I’m reading right now on photography: The Visual Toolbox – 60 Lessons for Stronger Photographs by David Duchemin.

“A couple of years ago I tried to answer, for myself, this simple question: What makes a great photograph? My own reply was contained in three elements-lines, light, and moments. What we do with those three is everything in a photograph. If every student of photography learned to ask three general questions before they pressed the shutter button, their work would improve faster than any new piece of gear could ever do in a lifetime. Those three questions for me are: What is the light doing? What are my lines doing? Is this moment the most powerful?”

Photo by Steve McCurry via Magnum.
INDIA. Bombay. 1993. A mother and child ask for alms through a taxi window during the monsoon.

April 28 2016

21 Unforgettable Photos That Made Me Fall in Love With Photography

Just how creative are some individuals in this world? How did a photographer capture that moment? These are the questions I asked myself over and over during the nearly eight years I was editor-in-chief at My Modern Met. Every day, I had the rare privilege of writing about and curating art, design and photography and I fell head over heals for each of the three disciplines. (My heart ultimately led me to favor photography.) Photos have a way of leaving an indelible mark on your mind, they change your very being, providing you with a new perspective or a giving you a new appreciation for life.

Today, I’d like to share 21 images that have ultimately led me to want to become a photographer. These photos do everything from make me see the beauty in the everyday to nudge me to live in the present. While some photos capture the amazing feeling of love, still others tell a fascinating story of a foreign culture.

I hope you enjoy this collection.

Above: After living in Nepal and exploring Tibet and the Himalayas for more than a decade, photographer Hamid Sardar-Afkhami decided he would travel to outer Mongolia to document the nomadic tribes and their unique way of life. Sardar took photos of the Dukha people, Mongolia’s last nomadic reindeer herders. The Dukha tribe is quickly disappearing. Only about 44 Dukha families remain, or between 200 to 400 people. In the 1970s, it’s estimated that there was a population of about 2,000 reindeer but that number has since dwindled to about 600. Here, a young child rests her head on one of the reindeer.

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This striking black and white photo of a man feeding ducks and swans in the snow is one you just can’t get out of your mind. It was shot by photographer Marcin Ryczek in Krakow, Poland. The contrast between river and bank as well as the framing are just perfect.

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This is an iconic and powerful portrait of composer and pianist Igor Stravinsky by Arnold Newman. The piano cleverly appears like a large musical note. Simple and minimalist but powerful.

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Tim Walker shot his first Vogue fashion story at the age of 25, and has been contributing his magical images to the magazine ever since. He’s known for fantastical settings and theatrical characters.

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This photo of a man reading while an elephant leans into him looks like it was taken from the pages of a storybook. If you look closely, in the background you can see other elephants roaming the land. In 2010, this serene photo was shot in Chiang Mai, Thailand by famed photojournalist Steve McCurry.

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Back in 2011, when the Vancouver Canucks lost in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, it sent their home city into chaos. Riots broke out, leaving buildings destroyed, cars burned and even people injured. Seemingly out of the blue, photojournalist Richard Lam was able to capture a truly unique image of a couple kissing.

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I discovered the photos of Alex Stoddard when he was just 17-years-old. By that time, he had already created an impressive body of work like this one of a cotton cloud coming out of his mouth.

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This hilarious photo of a fallen superhero is by Flickr favorite Rosie Hardy. She’s not just a master of self-portraits, she creates stunning portraits of other people as well.

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Photographer Vitor Schietti uses long exposures to create light paintings all around trees. The lights appear to rain down from the branches!

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This photo, called Felix, Gladys and Rover was shot in New York in 1974 by photographer Elliott Erwitt. While at first glance you think you’re looking at two pairs of human feet and then a small dog, you’d be surprised to find out that the first pair of legs actually belongs to a large dog! The advertising and documentary photographer is known for his black and white photos of funny and ironic situations.

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Hawaii-based photographer Dallas Nagata White captured this incredibly “hot” kiss by an active lava flow. Her husband dipped her into a dramatic kiss as rain began falling. There’s hardly any retouching, the photographer only adjusted the color contrast and sharpened the image. This photo leaves you breathless. “When we say this was a spontaneous shot, we mean the kissing pose was,” White states. “We’d all first taken our ‘Look at us, standing next to lava in the rain’ power stance photos, but after Ed and I had taken a couple, he said, ‘One more,’ and dipped me in a kiss without warning. It was the only kiss shot we took that night.”

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Jason Lee is a father who creatively captures his kids. Using a bit of Photoshop, he makes silly scenes come to life, like this one of his two girls playing around with duct tape.

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Migrant Mother, shot in 1936 by photographer Dorothea Lange is known as the iconic image of the Great Depression. Florence Owens Thompson, was a 32-year-old destitute pea picker in California who had seven children. You can just see the worry, of how she’s going to feed her children, etched on this mother’s face.

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Elena Shumilova is a Russian mother who takes stunning photos of her children with the animals on her farm. This one, of her son gently touching their large dog, shows the sweet friendship between the two.

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Moscow-based Russian photographer Katerina Plotnikova is known for her breathtaking fairy tale-like photos of women with live animals. This one, of a bear kissing a woman’s hand looks like it’s been Photoshopped but it hasn’t. While these encounters may seem dangerous, they’re actually quite safe because the photographer enlists the help of professional animal trainers.

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Kirsty Mitchell is one of those photographers who works tirelessly to create storybook-like photos in-camera. She, along with a dedicated team, work on lighting, make-up and wardrobe to make enchanting worlds come to life. This photo, of a women in an ombre dress standing in a lavender field, was one of her earlier works.

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For the 2012 National Geographic photo contest, British-born, Thai-based photographer Ashley Vincent won the overall prize and first place in the wildlife category, with this fun image of an tigress shaking off water while at the zoo.

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Photographer Chris Morgan shot this magnificent macro photograph of a hummingbird n 2011 at Bosque De Paz, a 3,000 acre privately-owned biological reserve in the middle of Costa Rica. He got a clear shot of the eye and captured the beautiful colors of the feathers.

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Chinese photographer Fan Ho captured the everyday life of Hong Kong throughout the 1950s and 1960s. This image is captivating because it captures light and shadow in an artistic way. The shot is called Approaching Shadow and it was taken in 1954.

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Using a long exposure, the path of the kayak paddle over serene lakes is brought to life. As photographer Stephen Orlando of Ontario, Canada states, “I’m fascinated with capturing motion through time and space into a single photograph. Using LED lights with custom color patterns and long exposure photography, I’m able to tell the story of movement. This technique reveals beautiful light trails created by paths of familiar objects. These light trails have not been artificially created with Photoshop and represent the actual paths of the objects.”

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Hungarian photographer Noell S. Oszvald‘s conceptual black and white photos are striking. This one, of a bird flying in the air while a woman hunches over with her hands over her eyes is unforgettable.

April 21 2016

National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year 2016, Kick-Off

It’s already that time of year! Time to kick off one of my favorite photo contests, The National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year! Photographers, come share your favorite travel experiences like that shocking face to face encounter with a polar bear or that magnificent erupting volcano. The grand prize winner will receive a 7-day Polar Bear Safari for two at Churchill Wild-Seal River Heritage Lodge, a National Geographic Unique Lodge of the World.

You have about a month to enter. National Geographic will accept submissions until May 27. Courtesy of National Geographic, here are some early entries.

Above: Wherever you go, I will follow you!!: Romance is in the air. It was the time of day immediately following sunset. I heard a voice. “Wherever you go, I will follow you” the voice says.
Location: Biei, Hokkaido, Japan
Photo and caption by Hiroki Inoue/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

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Impala at Sunrise Impala silhouetted as the sun rises in the Masai Mara, Kenya.
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
Photo and caption by Kellie Netherwood/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

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Dronie – Selfie taken with a Drone: This image is an aerial selfie image. We laid down on the bridge covered with snow and flew the drone above us to take this image.
Location: Mittersill, New Hampshire, United States
Photo and caption by Manish Mamtani/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

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Ballet dancer: When a Japanese larch’s twig was exposed to illumination, looked like hands and feet. It was like the ballet dancer.
Location: Biei, Hokkaido, Japan
Photo and caption by Hiroshi Tanita/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

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Lioness @ Sunset: Lioness (Panthera leo) at sunset, Vumbura Concession, Okavango Delta, Botswana, Africa.
Location: Okavango Delta, Botswana, Africa
Photo and caption by Marja Schwartz/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

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Face to Face: A polar bear on Wahlenbergfjorden off of Svalbard. I was in a zodiac off shore when he sauntered down to the beach to sniff us out. Soon losing interest, he retreated for a nap and we left him in peace.
Location: Haugen, Svalbard, Svalbard and Jan Mayen
Photo and caption by Ari Ross/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

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Bond Between Friends: Shot in Sakrebailu Elephant Camp, Shimoga, India. This camp works towards rehabilitating rescued elephants from circuses and human animal conflict zones. The elephants are trained here by experienced Mahouts and forms a lasting bond between the two. Every morning these Mahouts get their elephants for a bath in the nearby river. This is also when people are allowed to interact with the elephants.
Location: Shimoga, Karnataka, India
Photo and caption by Aditya D. /National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

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Peaks & Penguins in Antarctic Sunrise: Stunning peaks & thousands of King Penguins on South Georgia in soft early sunrise. The photography challenge was to resist shooting only Penguin close-ups (very tempting for sure) & step back occasionally to be equally amazed by the landscape in which they live. Special Bonus: It was 100 years to the month that Shackelton’s boat (Endurance) finally went under the Antarctic pack ice (Nov 1915), precipitating his epic traverse of South Georgia, before finding help at nearby Stromness (1916).
Location: South Georgia
Photo and caption by Shivesh R./National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

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Jonas Blizzard and the Flatiron Building: While walking through the Jonas Winter Storm that swept across the East Coast last week, I captured this shot of the Flatiron Building against a backdrop of swirling snow. With the exception of a few minor details like logos and a food cart, the image looks like an impressionist right out of another another century. The cloudy atmosphere and gusty winds creates patterns that appear uncannily like brush strokes.
Location: New York City, New York, United States
Photo and caption by Michele Palazzo/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

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La Fournaise volcano: The last eruption of LA Fournaise Volcano, Réunion Island.
Location: Saint-Denis, Reunion, Reunion
Photo and caption by Gaby Barathieu/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

April 19 2016

16 Excellent Tips on Getting Your Shot

Lately, I’ve been scooping up photography books left and right, trying to learn as much as I can about the craft. One of the books I’ve enjoyed the most is called Getting Your Shot by National Geographic. Back when I was with My Modern Met, I wrote countless posts about National Geographic’s online photo community called “Your Shot.” This book reveals the inside stories on how those photographs submitted to the Your Shot community were made and it also gives invaluable tips on how to set up your photos.

Here are 16 of my favorite tips.

1. Scenes evolve. Follow your subject until you are out of time or your subject is out of patience. Then go one step more.
2. You don’t have to go far to get a great photo. Keep an eye out for graphic elements that surround you every day.
3. Photograph the people and things you love.
4. Consider using your camera to create a visual diary.
5. Show the relationships between the animals and the people in your photographs by looking for expressions of love, interdependence, and gratitude. Capture the connection.
6. If possible, layer images with movement in the background. This will add weight and interest to your composition.
7. Tourists often take photos they are “supposed to” take but forget to document the real-life elements of their visit. When you travel, immerse yourself in the city and capture mundane moments-such as subway rides-and you’ll have more honest pictures when you return home.
8. Nature is beautiful, but people add a complementary dimension. Consider including people in nature scenes for added interest.
9. Take pictures of the everyday moments in your life. These images end up being some of the most personal and powerful because we approach them with such intimacy.
10. With your eye in the viewfinder, take a minute to look around at what you’re including in your composition before hitting the shutter. Take out what’s distracting or unnecessary in the image.
11. A good place to start when taking pictures is to determine where the best light is in the scene. Then stick around to see what happens in that spot.
12. The famous French photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson said that every situation has its decisive moment: you watch as something builds and wait for that peak. Applying the idea of a moment to your photography will make you a more observant and connected image maker. The moment trumps everything. The waiting is the hardest part.
13. Get close, and then get closer. Sometimes your best zoom lens is your feet.
14. Make sure everything in the picture is relevant to the image.
15. Eye contact often makes for more compelling photos of people and animals.
16. Take a step back. Don’t always go for the obvious. Look for different angles. Spend time taking in the scene and allowing it to unfold. Then shoot like mad.

Photo by Ankit Narang – Delhi, India

April 18 2016

How the Soul of the Photograph Trumps Technical Perfection

This weekend, I spent a few hours on Flipboard, it’s my favorite place to collect interesting articles. (You can find me on it, here.) I came across this great article on Feature Shoot called 17 Photographers Reveal the Hardest Life Lesson They Learned When Starting Out.

Though the post came out in January, it was new to me. I had somehow missed reading it until now. The article features inspiring words from photographers I’m familiar with like Ami Vitale (I liked her Skillshare video), Sophie Gamand from her Wet Dog series and Robin Schwartz from Amelia and the Animals. (She’s featured in our book, For Love.)

My favorite tidbit of advice came from photographer Carolyn Marks Blackwood.

“The hardest internal life lesson as a photographer was that the soul of a photograph trumps technical perfection. I was very insecure about my technical abilities in the beginning, but I had a point of view that was my own. Technical things can be learned over time, but a personal vision, the essence that touches the viewer’s heart in a photograph, comes from a place that is unique and personal in each person, and that cannot be taught.”

I’ve been struggling to get better, technically, with photography but I also need to remember that my personal vision comes from within.

Photo by Carolyn Marks Blackwood.

April 13 2016

Mario Testino’s New Show in Copenhagen

When I made the list 8 Photographers That Made Me Fall in Love With Photography I forgot to add one very important person. Peruvian-born photographer Mario Testino has work that has graced the pages of such publications as Vogue and Vanity Fair and he’s shot for such fashion houses as Versace, Gucci and Burberry. One of his most recent editorials was a breathtakingly beautiful one featuring girl-of-the-moment Gigi Hadid alongside her rockstar boyfriend, Zayn Malik.

Testino has a gift for capturing everyone’s best side, it would be a dream to be photographed by him. The closest most of us will probably get to that is viewing his work at a new exhibition in Copenhagen, Denmark. Starting May 12, visitors will be immersed in Mario Testino: No Limits, a show running over three levels of the gallery. The three overarching themes of his practice will be on view, his fashion and iconic portraiture, royal portraits and austere nudes. How I want to go!

Above: Sienna Miller, Rome, American Vogue, 2007

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Stella Tennant, New York, American Vogue, 2006

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Kate Moss, London, British Vogue, 2008

GL Strand website
via Wallpaper

April 7 2016

Photo Editing with VSCO and Lightroom

Yesterday, I watched a video on Skillshare called Street Shots: Photographing Scale, Light and Colors by Steve Sweatpants. Though street photography intrigues me, I don’t think it’s my true calling. I am branching out, however, to multiple types of photography to learn what I can about each genre. In a section of the video, under Editing Tips, I found out that Steve uses VSCO film presets in Lightroom.

While most people know of VSCO because of their app, VSCO Cam, many photographers use VSCO Film, preset packs that emulate the look and feel of old school film cameras. I went to the VSCO homepage, found their store and then bought two of their preset packs, Film 01 and Film 02. Then, I started playing with my photos.

I went onto YouTube to find some good tutorials on how to use my VSCO film presets in Lightroom. This video, by Ray Roberts, was very helpful. Watch it below.

Yesterday, in front of our house, I took the picture, above, of Parker holding his newest and most coveted toy, a RC radio controlled speed boat racing set. This morning, I edited it. With a Kodak Porta 160 VS- preset, a little bit of grain and a smidgen of fade, the photo came out looking timeless.

March 31 2016

How To Get Sharper Photos Using Your DSLR

Yesterday, Parker rode his bike around the neighborhood so I was able to catch a few shots of him as well as some flowers in full bloom. After watching this video by B and H, called The 15 Features of Your DSLR That Every Photographer Should Know, I learned how to get more shots in focus. Want to know the secret? There are two. First, you change your camera’s settings so you’re using the AF-ON button behind your camera. Now, you don’t have to click your shutter button halfway down and then click again to get a shot. The only downside is that you now use two fingers, you push the AF-ON button and then the shutter button. Here’s step by step instructions on how to set up your back button focus on your Canon Mark II. (This article explains what the benefits are to using back button focus.)

The other handy thing I learned about was changing your focal point, especially when shooting portrait versus landscape. For most photos, especially landscape shots, you can get away with center point focus but, every so often, you want to change your focal point so that you’re getting what you want in focus. This is especially useful for subjects like animals and people in portrait shots.

I’m happy to report that after learning these two tricks, my photos started to come out much sharper.

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March 29 2016

The Secret to Good Composition

“Think of your subject as a single frame in life’s epic motion picture. The Earth spins, the weather changes, and life moves around you like a dance. ‘Anticipating composition’ means selecting one important moment from that ebb and flow–what photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson called the ‘decisive moment.’ The act of catching life at its most revealing is the secret of selecting, and thus creating, good composition.” – National Geographic Book, Complete Photography

March 29 2016

Open and Youth Competition Winners of the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards

The world’s biggest photography competition, the Sony World Photography Awards, just announced the thirteen winners of their Open and Youth categories. In total, the 2016 awards received a record-breaking 230,103 submissions. The ten Open and three Youth winners were selected from a total of 103,005 entries. The overall Open and Youth Photographer of the Year will be announced on April 21. These winning images will be exhibited at London’s Somerset House from April 22 to May 8.

Looking at the winning images of photo competitions like this inspire me to keep pursuing photography. The Open competition is meant for photography enthusiasts, not professionals in the industry. The youngest winner in the whole competition is in Youth. Under the Environment category, Anais Stupka from Italy is just 12-years-old!

I’ll never tire of looking at photos. I feel blessed that I get to explore such a powerful and artistic medium.

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Kei Nomiyama, Winner, Low Light, Japan, 2016

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Alex Ingle, Winner, Smile, United Kingdom, 2016

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Alexandre Meneghini, Winner, People, Brazil, 2016

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Markus van Hauten, Winner, Panoramic Germany, 2016

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Swee Choo Oh, Winner, Arts and Culture, Malaysia, 2016

It was one of those brisk wintery days in March 2015. Everyone was already tired of the long and tough winter here in the north east. Amazed by how clear the day was I took my Cessna above New York's restricted airspace, which gave me a full freedom to roam. The winds were quite strong that day with no haze and unlimited visibility. With a bit of planning (and luck) I was able to capture perfect shadow alignment along the avenues - I had only one chance to capture - they were shifting fast.

Filip Wolak, Winner, Architecture, Poland, 2016

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Andrej Tarfila, Winner, Travel, Slovenia, 2016

Planned Obsolescence

Pedro Diaz Molins, Winner, Enhanced, Spain, 2016

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Chaiyot Chanyam, Winner, Split Second, Thailand, 2016

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Michaela Smidova, Winner, Nature & Wildlife, Czech Republic, 2016

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Sepehr Jamshidi Fard, Winner, Culture, Iran, Islamic Republic of, 2016

Sarah, my sister, December 28th, 2015.

Sam Delaware, Winner, Portraiture, United States, 2016

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Anais Stupka, Winner, Environment, Italy, 2016

Sony World Photography Awards website

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