Portraits are a genre of photography that are not usually done by many photographers simply because they think that it needs expensive gear and lighting accessories. If you choose the right location and light conditions, portraits can be captured using the gear that you have in hand, including your smartphone.
Closeup portraits are more effective because you will be capturing your subjects features and personality and this also means that your subject needs to feel comfortable during the session. With a few tips and techniques in mind, you can start shooting perfect black and white photos in a matter of few days. We recommend you to check out this new Black and White Portrait Photography Project so you can learn how to shoot stunning portraits that will look classic and timeless.
Here are 18 classic black and white portraits that can inspire you to capture some portraits this weekend.
Photo by Damian Barczak
Photo by Sherin Sam
Photo by Lissaa Spiridonova
Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy
Photo by Luis Quintero
Photo by Mustafa Enes ARDIÇ
Portraits can be further classified into various sub-genre and various lighting techniques can be used to capture different moods in portraits. Natural light always adds great depth and drama to portraits, but indoors or in a studio, artificial light can be manipulated to capture stunning portraits. Check out this new Black and White Portrait Photography Project that comes with guides and cheat sheets to help you master black and white portraiture.
Photo by Sushant Sodanwar
Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy
Photo by Mehrdad Ghadiri
Photo by Ali Nejatian
Photo by Omid Armin
Photo by Timur Khan
If you are a beginner to portrait photography, you might be worried about lighting or what settings to use for your first portrait session. Whether you wish to shoot indoors or outdoors, this Black and White Portrait Photography Project will give you all the help you need to get started with black and white portraiture. Even if you are an experienced photographer, this project can help you capture portraits in different styles.
Sigma 12mm F1.4 DC | Contemporary Sony ZV-E10 II ISO 100, F4, 1/320s
“It’s a quiet night. The stars are clearly visible as I roll out of my sleeping bag on the trailhead. It’s 4 o’clock in the morning and I spent the night in the back of my converted car.
Shortly after waking up, Max and Philipp also arrive in the parking lot. So why are we out here so early in the morning? Because I want to shoot trail running with the new Sigma 12mm F1.4 DC | Contemporary for APS-C cameras.
Max is here to film it all and Philipp will be our talent in front of the camera. Since the lens has such a wide aperture of F1.4 I wanted to start shooting before sunrise to showcase its capabilities.”
Sigma 12mm F1.4 DC | Contemporary Sony ZV-E10 II ISO 1600, F1.4, 1/125sSigma 12mm F1.4 DC | Contemporary Sony ZV-E10 II ISO 1250, F1.4, 1/100s
“To make it to our location in time we raced up the first 400 vertical meters in 20 minutes with e-bikes. Then we continued on foot. It was so nice to have such a light weight setup in my backpack.
“The first thing I noticed when I started shooting is that there is almost no distortion. Even around the edges. The images come out super clean and I was even able to shoot some nice portraits and details with it.
The F1.4 aperture also really helped to keep the ISO as low as possible. But it had still enough sharpness to really capture these stunning early morning moments.”
Sigma 12mm F1.4 DC | Contemporary Sony ZV-E10 II ISO 100, F1.4, 1/1600s
“It sometimes can be hard to focus in low light conditions. Especially when your subject becomes really small in a big landscape. But the Sigma 12mm F1.4 DC | Contemporary performed great and never hunted for focus.
Even when I had Philipp running towards me with the rising sun in the background I had absolutely no issues.”
Sigma 12mm F1.4 DC | Contemporary Sony ZV-E10 II ISO 100, F4.0, 1/320s
“Before we headed out I was a little worried that the 12mm focal length might be way too wide for what we had planned.
I thought my subject could be too small and get lost in the landscape background. Luckily this was not the case. The lens feels more like 16mm on full-frame. And with that I think it makes it so much more versatile.
Combined with the almost not noticeable distortion, you can really push it and shoot the classic super wide shots, but also details on your subject.”
Sigma 12mm F1.4 DC | Contemporary Sony ZV-E10 II ISO 160,F4.0, 1/1250sSigma 12mm F1.4 DC | Contemporary Sony ZV-E10 II ISO 200, F1.4, 1/1000sSigma 12mm F1.4 DC | Contemporary Sony ZV-E10 II ISO 200, F1.4, 1/1000s
Would I say it’s a one-and-done lens? No, there are other options for that.
Is it an amazing piece of glass that can do way more than you expect? 100% yes.
I think it can be a great addition to your APS-C kit if you are looking for a lens with a better low light performance while still checking all of the other boxes of a prime lens.
Sigma 12mm F1.4 DC | Contemporary Sony ZV-E10 II ISO 200, F1.4, 1/1000s
One of the most interesting subjects to photograph on this planet is the humans and it is because of the varied characters and personalities that each human possesses. Portrait is a unique genre and similar to all other genre in photography, one needs to give importance to composition when creating a portrait. It is through effective compositional guidelines that the photographer can create a visual impact and connect to the viewer through their photography.
A portrait needs to convey the character and mood of the person and composing a portrait can be a bit tougher than you might think. There are several things like lighting, right subject, best camera settings and locations you need to get right to create successful and compelling portraits.
In order to create engaging portraits and not snapshots, you need to have the skills and technical knowledge in making portraits. One of the most important factors among these are composition techniques and here are six composition techniques that can be used to improve your portraits.
Placing the eyes on the upper third
Filling the frame
Framing your subject using frame within a frame
Using leading lines
Leaving space for your subject to look at
Using different perspectives or angles
1. Place The Eyes In The Upper Third:
You may all have heard about the basic rule that most photographers start with – the rule of thirds. In order to create a visual impact in your portraits, when shooting in portrait orientation, it is best to have the eyes of the subject on the upper third of the frame.
Štefan Štefančík
If you are shooting in landscape orientation, then going by the rule of thirds, it is good to have the dominant eye of the subject on or near one of the vertical lines of the rule of thirds grid.
Bollie6734
Note:
An exception to the above technique can be when you are shooting full body shots where you can be positioning your subject on the right or left third of the image.
2. Fill the Frame:
When making a portrait, you are capturing the character and features of the person. So do not hesitate to get close and fill the frame with your subject’s face. Do not limit yourself to just the headshots, but try filling the frame when you do head and shoulders shots, medium shots or three-quarter shots.
Filling the frame with the subject’s face also helps emphasize textures and other details like lines, wrinkles, etc. in the portrait. You can also look into the subject through a closer view of their eyes in the photograph.
Luxstorm
3. Frame Your Subject With Frames Within The Frame:
When making portraits, you do not have to eliminate or blur the background, instead use the elements like doors, windows, lines, etc. to frame the subject to keep the viewer’s attention on your subject.
Clem Onojeghuo
You can also use elements like windows, doors, arches or any other natural or man-made structures in the foreground to frame your subject to create visually interesting images.
Corey Saldana
Samarth Singhai
4. Use Lines To Lead The Viewer To Your Subject:
Lines are another interesting feature when it comes to composition for any genre of photography. They can be so powerful and be used to lead the viewer into the frame to your subject. Use lines and frame your subject in such a way that the lines lead the viewer’s eyes to the subject or their eyes.
5. Leave Space In Front Of The Subject:
This is a very important technique that needs to be taken care of. If you are making a portrait where the subject is looking in one direction or their body is facing a particular direction, then, always leave space in the direction your subject is looking into (in front of them) or their body is facing, just like how you would leave space in the direction of movement of your subject. Do not frame in a way that the subject is positioned, facing a direction where they exit the frame immediately.
Mustafa Omar
6. Use A Different Angle Or Perspective:
Do not stop with just straight up shots at eye level, but change angles to show your subject from a totally different perspective. You can get higher or lower or move to the left or right of your subject to get the right composition and personality of your subject. It also helps avoid certain distracting elements behind or around your subject and can lead to powerful portraits sometimes.
TunaOlger
These are some of the many composition techniques required to create stunning portraits, but with the techniques mentioned here, you can create beautiful well-composed portraits. Once you master these techniques, do not hesitate to break these techniques in a creative way.
Last month, we wrote about Antigravity, the first 360 drone incubated by Insta360 and a group of third parties. They have now unveiled their first product, Antigravity A1, which will be the first drone in the world that boasts an 8K 360 degrees capture, combined with an immersive flying experience.
Image via Antigravity
Antigravity A1 comes with a dual lens camera so the footage can be captured in 360 degrees. One of the lenses is mounted on top and another at the bottom of the drone and this helps with capturing the entire 360 degree view.
The vision goggles that comes with the drone gives the drone pilot an immersive experience. It comes with FreeMotion technology and head tracking that allows the pilot to explore the surroundings from aerial view even if the drone is flying in a different direction. The rendering process uses advanced image stitching technology to make the drone invisible when viewing using the goggles and in the final footage, making the scenes look realistic.
The dual camera allows capture of everything in view allowing the user the flexibility to reframe the footage when post-processing. This also enables new editing possibilities like tiny planet, dynamic camera moves, horizontal flips, etc.
The grip controller allows drone pilots to use hand movements to control the drone and this paired with the goggles helps the user explore the surrounding in 360 degrees real-time. The drone also has safety features like return-to-home and a payload detection system to prevent misuse and unauthorised modifications.
Antigravity weighs only 249g making it light, compact and meeting the drone regulatory requirements in most countries. This drone is perfect for everyone right from families to creators.
The drone is scheduled to launch globally in January, 2026. Antigravity is also accepting applications for its Antigravity co-creation project where selected participants will be invited to test, explore and share their ideas.
You can check more details about this product here and here. We have more news for you to read if you are interested at this link here.
For some, it’s a simple way to interact with friends and show their images off. For others, it’s a valuable marketing tool. Whether you are just beginning in photography or a seasoned pro, social media is a valuable and useful place for photographers.
Not only is it a place to display and show off your work, but its many different specialist groups can be great places to learn, interact, and solve issues with your gear or photography. However, some social media platforms are much better places to be than others as photographers. There is also the danger that we might use social media as a way of validating our skills.
Today we are going to take a look at some of the top social media platforms for photographers in 2025. We will look at how they can help our photographic journeys rather than as a marketing tool.
We are going to kick off with the granddaddy of photographic social media platforms, Instagram.
Is Instagram Still The Place For Photographers?
The short answer is no, the long answer is, it’s complicated. Instagram has evolved from a platform where all images were displayed at a fixed resolution and image ratio, to a multimedia platform where short form video is king.
As a photographer wishing to show off purely their photography work, Instagram is a busted flush. It’s very hard to build a following and engagement, simply by posting images these days.
There is the argument that Instagram reels are a good place for learning photography, but personally I see a lot of engagement bait and very generic photography “lesson” reels. Instagram’s algorithm seems to favour uniformity and conformity these days so many of the reels are the same advice wrapped up in slightly different ways. Often that advice is also quite poor.
Instagram, the grand daddy, but is it still relevant? By Souvik Banerjee
As a marketing tool, if you have time and/or a team, posting behind the scenes reels as well as images, can build a following and get you noticed; however, unless you are a fairly successful professional, it’s probably not worth investing a huge amount of time in Insta
The Platform Formerly Known As Twitter
Twitter used to be a decent place for showing off your images if you had a decent enough following. These days X, is still a reasonable place so long as you stay within the photography genre. Step outside, just for a moment, and the algorithm will ambush you.
The photography community in X is still pretty friendly. Lots of sharing of images, people willing to give advice, and even the potential to sell a print or two. I have built a decent, engaged following on X by doing a daily showcase. I invite people to post images to my daily theme, then retweet them. I also do an honest critique post once a month, where followers can have an image critiqued by me or other followers. It has proved popular and people enjoy getting real, constructive feedback on their photos.
As a marketing tool, X is pretty limited. Like many platforms these days, external links get heavily demoted, however you can get some engagement by posting a photo to the first comment and a link to the second.
Avoid the politics, and X can be ok. By Daddy Mohlala
What You Should Know About BlueSky And Threads
I have put these two together as they are both new kids on the block, relatively speaking, and both competitors to X. Bluesky is very similar to the Twitter of old, with very good reason; it was created by Jack Dorsey, the original creator of Twitter.
As a photographer’s platform, it falls into the showing category more than the learning. However, the photography community is well-engaged and very friendly. The odd thing I find about Bluesky is that images get lots of likes but very few comments.
The reverse seems true of Threads, which, for photographers, behaves in a similar way. It is again a displaying platform rather than learning, but there does seem to be more commentary, often very useful, compared to Bluesky. The main issue for the photography community on Threads seems to be the infestation of rage bait subjects (this is common across all subjects on Threads). A lot of photographers seem to post “controversial” takes in order to boost engagement. The irony of this approach is that these posts get lots of engagement but don’t pick up many followers.
On both Bluesky and Threads, I have built over 1.2K followers, simply by posting good images, at least once per day. However, I don’t find them particularly useful as photographers’ platforms.
The new kids on the block. Threads and Bluesky
Facebook
This might surprise you, but I think Facebook is probably the best social media platform for photographers in 2025. There are two main reasons for this. The first is that you can create and post as a page, a completely separate entity from your personal timeline. The second is the sheer number of highly specialised photography groups. If you can think of a sub-genre, there will be multiple groups in it.
Creating your own Facebook page is a great way to build a following that is there just for your photography. Many groups allow you to join and post as a page , and if people like your work, you can invite them to join your page.
You don’t need to be a business or professional to have a page. Anyone can create their own photography page and tailor it to their own genre.
Facebook, despite the endless adverts, is actually quite good. By Will Francis
Photography groups on FB can be incredibly helpful, both to new photographers and advanced enthusiasts alike. Whilst the biggest groups can get toxic, the smaller, very specific groups are full of great photographers who are happy to give advice. Local groups are a great way to show off your local photography and build a local following.
Don’t Sleep on YouTube
Whilst there is always an ongoing debate as to whether YouTube is a social media platform, there is absolutely no doubt that it’s a fantastic learning resource for photographers. Whether you are looking to buy some new gear, learn a new photographic genre, or up your editing game, there will be multiple videos available.
As on any social media platform, there can be bad advice, but the bigger photography channels got there by creating engaging and factually useful videos, and in general will be giving out very good advice.
There is a caveat, and that is gear reviews. There are a number of larger channels that predominantly do photography gear reviews. They are often given new equipment before release and put out videos on the day of release. Whilst these videos can be useful in understanding the capabilities of a new piece of photography gear, they can be shills for the manufacturer.
In my opinion, the best gear reviews come from the smaller channels where they have bought it to fit into their own photographic workflows. They are much more likely to give impartial opinions.
For experienced photographers, YouTube can also be a great place to showcase and impart your own knowledge to others. Creating your own photography videos is a good way to give back to the photographic community and gives you an extra creative outlet.
There are a number of other social media platforms. Vero, Glass, and Foto are specifically tailored to the photographer, but none of them really have the pull and power of the bigger platforms. They are good for showing work to your peers but not to a wider demographic.
TikTok and Snapchat both have short-form video photographic tutorials, but like Instagram reels, they tend to be very generic and often misleading.
An often underrated platform for photography is Reddit. There are a number of Reddit photography communities, and they are well-moderated and very useful. One of the great things about Reddit is that it often shows up high on Google searches for specific photography topics, making it a useful go-to for advice.
Social media is not to everyone’s taste. However, as both a learning resource and a place to meet and engage with like-minded photographers, it is invaluable. In my opinion, despite potential toxicity and endless adverts, Facebook is the best place to be for new and enthusiast photographers. The fact that you can create a page dedicated to your own photography is a great way of building up a dedicated following of people who enjoy your work.
At the end of 2024, I had a brief but cathartic flirtation with film photography again. There was a very personal reason for this, when my father passed away, he left an old Minolta X300. This was the same camera model that I had used in my early days of photography.
Photo by Tetzemann
I wanted to celebrate his memory by running some film through the camera. It became quite the emotional journey and indeed, I wrote about the experience here on Light Stalking.
However, beyond the emotional journey, I want to share with you what I learnt from a technical and creative viewpoint, in my brief flirtation with film.
I should preface this by saying that I had shot film before, in fact if you have followed my articles here, you will know that much of my early photographic career was film based. However, it has been at least 20 years since I had shot a roll of film, and so this is more about what I had forgotten than new things that I learned.
Every Shot Has A Value
This is something that has always been the case when shooting film. Every single image you make is going to cost you. There is the purchase price of the film, the cost of development and the price of printing to factor in.
That was not an inconsiderable sum in the pre-digital days, but these days, it is a highly significant amount. To get from film to contact sheet you are looking at around $30 per roll of 36. Quite a bit more if you decide to get prints made.
However, this is not necessarily a negative. It teaches you that every single exposure you make has a value. That in turn slows you down. It makes you think both creatively and technically every time you press the shutter. It’s a sobering counter to the digital concept of spray and pray.
Exposure Is Important
Modern digital cameras are incredible. Even if somehow you manage to get the exposure completely wrong, you can pull it back into something decent. This is not so with shooting film.
Most film has a much lower latitude to exposure mistakes than digital. There are one or two black and white films that get close, but in general if you make a significant exposure mistake on film, there is little to no chance of pulling it back either as a print or as a scan.
When I shot Ilford HP4 on my father’s camera, I bracketed, much like I do on digital. However, the images that were 1 or more stops over or under exposed were significantly degraded compared to a digital equivalent.
That also leads to a big increase in something else we don’t worry too much about in digital – grain aka noise.
The upshot of this is that you become keenly aware of how important exposure is to getting the optimum image. This is made even more important by the lack of exposure tools available to you. Speaking of which…
Trusting Your Eyes and Instincts.
The Minolta X300 is a very basic film camera. It has manual and aperture priority exposure modes, and that’s about it. The viewfinder has a +/- scale for exposure and split/Fresnel screen for focusing. Yes, that means manual focusing.
That viewfinder is also really quite dark compared to any modern DSLR or mirrorless. This all combines to make taking photos with the X300 quite challenging.
For focusing, I find the split screen the easiest to use. However, you have to center the camera on your focal point, focus then recompose the shot. There is none of this guiding a focus point using a joystick or d-pad.
Like with exposure however, it slows you down, makes you think clearly about where exactly your subject/focus should be.
There is a complete lack of aids on older film cameras. No histograms, no live views, no focus peaking, none of the tools we are used to. That means you need to visualise in your head exactly how you want the image to look and then use your own experience with that camera and film type to make the vision a reality. Experience is the keyword here, as it trains you to understand so many elements of photography that we often take for granted.
Want to shoot something inside, handheld? You cannot just bump up the ISO and get on with it. You will need to swap out the film for one of a higher ISO.
That’s not necessarily the end of the story. If you are going inside to shoot, you will probably be shooting under artificial light. It’s not as simple as putting a higher ISO film in. You need a film that’s colour balance is tuned to interior lights, in general tungsten film. Without it, your images are going to have a deep orange cast.
It is perfectly possible to remove films mid-roll, however, you will lose a few frames of that film (every frame costs) and you need to be meticulous with labelling. If you remove a film with 20 exposures shot, you need to label that film well. Then when you come to use the film again you need to shoot with the lens cap on and wind on at least 24 frames, before you can start shooting again. Again it’s a game of patience and planning.
Shooting with film brought back a lot of memories, some good, some bad. There is no doubt that we have lost some important skillsets in the move to digital. The most significant is perhaps building up an instinct that when you press the shutter button, you have got it right. In a digital world, that instinct is much diminished because we can review the image before and after we take it.
More importantly, perhaps, is that shooting film teaches you to slow down and think about every shot that you take. You become keenly aware that every image has value.
Would I like to go back to film permanently? That’s a resounding no. The convenience and image quality of digital far outweigh the educational aspect of film. However, as an occasional cathartic exercise in creativity it’s nice to know that I can still take my father’s camera for a run out.
Photographers are not perfect all the time – even the most experienced or professional photographers are prone to making mistakes at times. Making mistakes in photography is not a huge problem, as long as the photographer learns from the mistake and rectifies the errors in the future. Besides, not all mistakes are serious, as some mistakes can also lead to creative results or learning new techniques in photography.
There are a lot of different genre in photography and each one has its own guidelines and settings. For example, sports photography will need a different setting compared to landscape photography and long exposure photography will need a different setting compared to street or portrait photography. The same applies to editing too.
Depending on the desired results or individual photographers’ interests, different workflows are followed by photographers. In this article, we have put together a bunch of resources that we hope will help you to avoid some common mistakes in photography.
Most of the time, beginners in photography are confused with many problems like getting the settings right, making use of the right light, compositional guidelines, over-shooting, too much post processing and so on. Many photographers start with point and shoot in auto mode, and with the advancement in camera technology, most of the time an image may turn out good but what is important is to have a creative vision and work on achieving that result. Check out this article to learn some of the most common photography mistakes beginners make in photography.
Photo by Jason Row
Composition is very important in photography in order to capture effective and compelling images that have a lot of visual interest. Without just pointing the camera at a scene and shooting, taking time to scout the location and capturing images from different perspectives and angles, or watching out for interesting backgrounds, using meaningful elements, etc., will all contribute to great compositions in an otherwise simple image. This article talks about some typical composition mistakes that can ruin the effectiveness of your image.
Photo by Pietro de Grande
Portrait photography is a slightly difficult and challenging genre and is one that requires a few important factors to be taken care of, for the best results. Since we are dealing with closeup details of the subjects mostly and also want to capture their personality well, it requires a lot of practice and patience to master portrait photography. Here in this article, there is a list of 7 common mistakes in portrait photography and how to avoid them.
Photo by Jessica Felicio
Many think that mistakes are made by only beginners or amateur photographers because they are still learning, but photographers are always learning and professional photographers also make mistakes, including the very successful or famous photographers. Some photographers just ignore their mistakes or do not realise that they are making a mistake. This article talks about some common mistakes that professional photographers need to avoid.
Photo by NEOM
From time to time, most photographers shoot long exposure photographs while some shoot them quite often. Long exposure photography is not about just putting the camera on a tripod and setting a longer exposure time to capture the image. There are a lot of things to be taken care of like exposure times, accessories to lengthen exposure, colour shifts, noise, internal reflections, etc. Check out this article to avoid some long exposure photography mistakes.
Photo by Jason Row
If you have been into black and white photography for a while, you know that it is not just converting an image to black and white by bringing down the saturation slider all the way down to the negative side, or just applying a black and white preset. Black and white images need tonality in order for them to shine and it is always recommended that you learn to see in black and white, shoot in colour and then convert to black and white. Check if you are making any of these mistakes in black and white photography and see what you can do to avoid them.
Some photographers shoot raw always, while some shoot jpeg and others a combination of raw and jpeg. Eery photographer may have a reason as to why they are shooting in a certain format, but most images require at least some post processing to give the image a pop and the right contrast, colours and exposure.
When post-processing your images, it is important to not go overboard and make the images look unnatural, with too much saturation, clarity sharpening, etc. Check this article to see if you make any of these post production mistakes!
Photo by Tron Le
Lightroom is one of the most versatile programs that can be used for post processing, and is more popular among professional photographers who require batch processing often. Its features are very useful when it comes to creating and sharing catalogs, and also the many panels that help make post production easier, but as with all programs, overusing any of the sliders can result in bad final images. Check this article to see if you make any of these mistakes when working in Lightroom.
Photo by Jason Row
Are you someone who shoots film? There are mistakes film photographers make too and these mistakes can cost a lot. When shooting film, the photographer mostly needs to take care of a lot more things that what a digital photographer would. This article discusses three common film photography mistakes and how to avoid them.
Photo by Brian Huynh
Lastly, we would also like to touch on a very important subject that photographers need to take care of – maintaining the gear. Depending on what you shoot, especially in the outdoors, the camera, lens and other accessories are exposed to the elements and other harsh conditions. It is important that we take of our gear and do regular maintenance in order to avoid expensive repairs or replacements. Check out this article on some mistakes to avoid.
We’re happy to announce the winner of July’s competition, “Textures and Layers.”
For those who don’t know, the Light Stalking Monthly Photography Competition carries a $100 People’s Choice Award and a $100 Overall Winner Award. The People’s Choice Winner is selected by a vote of the community, whereas our guest judge selects the overall winner.
The “Textures and Layers” Photo Contest
Textures and layers are a powerful combination in photography and they are difficult to photograph well. Combining textures and layers in an image needs careful observation, wise choice of subject, elements and the right lighting to get the best resulting image.
Textures are interesting and photographing just the textures close-up may not always end in compelling photographs. Layers on the other hand can be a powerful tool to enhance depth and visual interest in an image. Combined, both work together and help achieve great results in a photograph.
When capturing textures, the photographer needs to take into account the camera settings as well, in order to capture the details well. Narrow aperture values for crisp texture details and low iso values to capture neat noise free images.
The contest theme for July was “Textures and Layers’ and the photos from the participating members included interesting submissions covering various genre in photography like macro, portraits, abstracts, nature, landscape, still life and even street photos. The submitted photos portrayed unique interpretations of the theme with images shot under great lighting and also some submissions making use of light and shadow to enhance the layers and depth in the image.
When choosing the winning photos, we wanted to make sure that the decision process was based on a good interpretation of the theme, followed by other factors like light, composition, story, details, creative vision, etc. The results are entirely subjective and there are no losers in any competition as we all know.
Here are July’s winners:
First Place: “Wet, Layered, and Blooming” by Pat Garrett
Wet, Layered, and Blooming – Copyright Pat Garrett
Pat submitted this image of a Hosta along with its flower and this image really stood out in terms of composition, light and is a great example for the contest theme. The textures, colours on the leaves and flowers complement each other while the light used is great to highlight the elements, reveal the layers and in the process add depth to the image.
Pat’s choice of perspective and angle has made use of the lines in the leaves leading to the flower, making them natural leading lines to draw the viewer’s attention to the flower. Also the leaves act as a natural frame for the flower.
The light and shadows in the image are used cleverly to reveal depth by choosing the right choice of lighting and the water on the leaves add a fresh mood to the photo. Congratulations on the win Pat and for capturing this interesting and unique shot.
Second Place: “Organic Textures and Layers” by Frogdaily
Organic Textures and Layers (Water and oil in a plate on top layer with kale on bottom layer reflecting the texture to the bubbles and plate.) – Copyright Frogdaily
This organic textures and layers photo by Frogdaily is interesting taking into account how it was executed and photographed. The monochrome colours in the photo make it even more visually appealing without much distraction in terms of colours.
The water and oil droplets on a glass plate with kale at the bottom is a very interesting concept making every element in the frame almost organic too. The textures created by kale and the tiny droplets are really beautiful and the light is just right with details in all parts of the image.
Congratulations Frogdaily on this cleverly executed shot.
Third Place: “Liquidambar bark” by Beverley Kirkby
Liquidambar bark – Copyright Beverley Kirkby
This textural image by Beverly really stood out in terms of the textures, colours and the amazing light and shadows — the star shaped leaves really add so much visual interest to the image. The Liquidambar bark would not have looked very interesting if it was photographed without the shadow of its leaves.
Besides the above, Beverley has made use of the right light when photographing the bark – it is neither too harsh nor too soft but the right amount to reveal the bark details, add some depth and provide those interesting shadows with enough contrast.
Congratulations Beverley on capturing this beautiful photo.
People’s Choice Award Winner
Our monthly photo contests also come with a People’s Choice Award. The winner of this part of the contest receives $100 worth of store credit on Light Stalking which they can spend as they please on our blueprints, drills, courses or Presets.
Start with a List… – Copyright Pat Garrett
The most popular photo for July, voted by the contestants was “Start with a List…” by Pat Garrett, which has won the people’s choice award. The many textures and layers formed by reflections on glass makes the photo more interesting and at the same time a very engaging one, making the viewer quite curious.
Pat has managed to avoid any light reflecting off the glass, which may have otherwise created bright spots and ruined the image. The subject is beautifully illuminated with soft light and Pat has captured the right amount but still very sharp details in the photo. Congratulations Pat on the win.
We are about two weeks into this month’s photo contest and still have a couple of weeks left to submit photos to our August’s monthly contest. This month, our theme is “The Art Of Reflection.”
Zero Zero Robotics has introduced a new drone in their HOVERAir brand, the HOVERAir Aqua which is a water-borne, self-flying drone. This drone can take off and land in water, and is built specifically for that purpose with more than 15 waterproofing adaptations. Looks like this is a drone with features that many drone users have been waiting for.
Image via HOVERAir
HOVERAir is a company that already has released a few self-flying drones with its flagship model being the HOVERAir X1. The HOVERAir Aqua weighs less than 249g making it an ultra lightweight device that may not require a registration in some countries.
The drone’s camera comes with a 1/1.3 inch CMOS sensor and can capture 4K videos at 100fps. The camera has a custom lens for use with water and can be controlled using a compact controller.
The wind resistance of the drone is up to 33 knots (approximately 61 kmph) and has a top speed of 55 kmph, making it a great choice to capture adventurous sports in both land and water. This drone will be a great equipment for anyone involved in outdoor adventures.
The drone comes in an orange colour design so it would be easier to spot it in water even when there are waves on the surface. The drone is also designed to stay afloat on water after landing or before takeoff.
More details about the drone will be available at the official launch, but you can read some interesting information here and sign up using your email address to receive updates.
We have more news for you to read if you are interested at this link here.
Long exposure photography is a genre where you intentionally increase the exposure time to blur certain parts of the image but there is also night sky photography or other night photography where long exposure can be made to capture as much light as possible. When you capture long exposure images depending on the time of the day and amount of light, you may need to increase the exposure times and sometimes use an ND or Grad-ND filter to lengthen the exposure times.
Photo by Lopez Robin
Besides using ND filters, you will also need accessories like a stable tripod and a remote release to avoid camera shakes. Long exposure photography can be applied to many genre of photography besides the landscape photography where this technique is more commonly used. In this article, we have put together a bunch of tutorials for you to get an understanding of long exposure photography and improve your skills.
Photo by Gerald Berliner
When capturing long exposure images, a few factors need to be kept in mind. The light in the location and how it is illuminating the subject, the time of day and what the end results would be, stabilising the camera, using the right settings based on the light and other elements, etc. Besides, you will need to use required accessories to get the best results. Check out these four easy to follow tips that will help make your long exposure photos successful.
Photo by Nathan61
If you are looking for a few more quick tips on capturing long exposure images, the above article has a few tips on the factors and settings you need to consider for good long exposure shots. There is also a useful chart that will help you to calculate your applied settings for normal light situations into the language of long-exposure photography.
Image by BenFrantzDale
Capturing long exposure during the day time can be quite tricky because the light can be bright in most situations and you will need to cut down light based on how long you need the exposure time to be. This is where ND filters come in handy and they come in various strengths. Check out the above article to learn how to use an ND filter for day time long exposure photography.
Here are some more handy tutorials:
Photo by Jason Row
Architectural elements can be great subjects in a long exposure photograph. If shot under the right light conditions and other elements in the frame like clouds or light trails architectural structures can lead to very interesting photographs. The above article is a quick guide on long exposure architectural photography.
Photo by H Matthew Howarth
Just like how you capture long exposure photographs during the day time, you can capture stunning long exposures at night too. Remember that you will definitely need a tripod and a shutter release to capture sharp images without any blur due to camera shake.
Photo via Pixabay
Night time photography can be interesting if you add a dynamic element to the frame. If you can safely photograph the light trails from traffic or from other interesting subjects like a carousel or a Ferris wheel, these can add visual interest and a story telling factor to the image. Here are some quick tips in the article above.
Long exposure photography is so fascinating that it does not stop with capturing just light trails, moving water or clouds, star trails and so on, but can also be extended to capture sun trails. Here is an article that shares the work of photographer Kristian Saks and the process of how he captures these images.
Photo by Federico Alegría
Now if you are a street photographer, you are surely missing out on some creative photography if you do not capture long exposure street photos. Yes, long exposure is a great way to add a dynamic element to street photos and will help you to capture intriguing photos. The above article will help you with some tips to capture long exposure street photos.
Photo by Jason Row
There are times when we capture long exposure images that we think are technically perfect but the results may be very disappointing. The most common mistakes are camera shakes, colour shifts, noise, diffraction, internal reflection, etc. The article above will help you understand why these mistakes can happen and how you can rectify them.
Photo by Diego Vitali
Some situations will help some photographers capture long exposure images by just handholding their camera if they have a somewhat steady hand. But when you become quite serious about this craft and look to capture perfect and sharp photos, you will need to invest in some very essential gear. Here is what you need to capture the best long exposure shots both during the day and at night.
