You can get lucky with light. Of course, you can buy expensive gear and study this essential craft at the feet of the masters, but sometimes your success with lighting will come down to a single variable: Being in the right light at exactly the right time. But this success requires more t

Lead the eye in One of the most effective ways to create a powerful composition is to use visual elements to lead the viewer’s eye into the scene. Leading elements can be just about anything—lines, curves, or a progression of shapes. Leading lin

It is often said that light is the lifeblood of photography. What exactly does that mean? Aside from the obvious fact that without illumination there would be no image, the quality and characteristics of light greatly determine the visual impact that a photograph will have with a viewer. L

A physicist by training and vocation, Chris Tennant brings a scientific mind-set to his landscape photography, yet he composes his images like an artist. In his photo practice, Tennant often uses novel methods to add unusual flair to his nature images. Here he shares five

Capture iconic landscapes that look as if they were plucked from the set of Westworld this summer with a visit to a National Park. These fifteen destinations offer a variety of scenes for you to point your camera at. Yellowstone Established i

National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson is responsible for some of the best photography advice ever given: “If you want to be a better photographer, stand in front of more interesting stuff.” Nature is full of interesting stuff, and, thanks to smartphones, we’re a

Celebrity portrait photographer Jesse Dittmar has probably photographed some of your childhood idols. He’ll admit that many of them, are his childhood idols as well. But, if you want to do the kind of portrait work that he specializes in, you’ve got to leave that fan mentality

This story was originally published on Popular Science. Portrait mode photos are everywhere these days. Some shots look great, others… don’t. So if you want your pics to really stand out, there are certain techniques you need to know. Since it was introduced with the iPhone 7 Plus in

In an era when most people carry a camera in their pockets, and a large amount of the pictures taken of us will eventually be posted on the internet forever, posing properly for a photo is an important skill everyone should have. You don’t have to look like a runway model, you just h

The days are getting shorter, the air a bit brisker, and in many parts of the United States the leaves are about to start changing. For portrait photographers, it’s an exciting time of year. It’s hard to take a bad picture in fall, especially during golden hour. But, you can go beyond th

The holidays are one of the best times to take family photos: everyone is free, happy, and trapped in a house, so they can’t run away when you demand they all line up for a picture. But if you’re going to do it, you should do it right. Here’s how: Choose your tool: Smartphone or dedi

In our quest for human contact, we’ve all started turning on our webcams. I’ve been working remotely for more than a decade, which has included countless Hangouts and Skype sessions, but only now have I started leaving the camera on. And while computer webcams have gotten rather excellen

Kahran and Regis Bethencourt are the photographic duo behind CreativeSoul Photography—an Atlanta-based studio focused on capturing dynamic portraits of children that celebrate the beauty of natural hair. The married couple has been shooting together for over a decade, working on campaigns

Olympics Day 5 – Gymnastics – Artistic From the America’s Cup to the Super Bowl, Getty Images Sports Photographer Ezra Shaw has covered the world’s biggest sports. But he considers the Olympic Games to be the most challenging of all.

Olympics Day 13 – Beach Volleyball When a Getty images photographer shoots a picture at the Olympic Games, it’s often available to customers amazingly quickly—within a couple of minutes. But getting it there takes an enormous effort. In fa

There are a ton of photographers at the Olympics in Rio right now. We have already gotten a look at what it’s like to shoot for a big agency, but not every shooter is working as part of a larger team. Marc Serota is a freelancer with decades of experience and a different perspective on

Large format photography is a fascinating process here in the digital age. It’s slow, wonderful, beautiful, frustrating, and perhaps most importantly, really expensive. Photographer Jay L. Clendenin has been shooting large-format portraits of Olympic athletes in Rio, but he has been skip

When you’re photographing a soccer or baseball game, you don’t have to worry about which autofocus mode works best for capturing athletes crawling face down in the mud under a crisscross of sharp barbed wire. When shooting a Spartan Race, however, that’s exactly the kind of sports photog

From its earliest days, still photography’s ability to freeze action has naturally complemented the fast-moving world of sports. “To play and to watch sports is to be in the moment. Still photographers are masters of moments,” says Gail Buckland, curator of the Brooklyn

For the last decade ESPN Magazine has been convincing some of the world’s most elite athletes from a to shed their uniforms—and everything else—for its annual Body Issue. Past issues have included immaculate nude images of tennis star Serena Williams, Olympic medalist Aly Raisman and