Inspiration Features The aesthetic of an artist, the reflexes of a sports shooter, the people skills of an Oprah–and a big love... By American Photo Staff | Published Mar 5, 2013 1:11 AM EST Inspiration How To

At the outset of their careers, photography buffs typically tune out the subject of artificial lighting. All the gear can add up to an unwieldy and expensive investment, with no guarantee that if you spend a million bucks, million-dollar images will follow. The truth, though, is something else, as M

“The Mentors told me to do 360-degree evaluations of a scene, because the best picture may be behind you. That was exactly the case with this scene,” says Jim Coleman. Jim Coleman Hunting for photo opportunities, Jim Coleman, a civil and environmental engineer from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and wife Jer

Whether its a blizzard, a heat wave, or a rain storm keeping you inside, dont give up on your photography By Sara Cravatts | Published Jan 22, 2016 12:11 AM EST SHARE Indoor Photography Popular Photography Before ever

_Pro surf photographer Pat Stacy has spent the majority of his life in the waves. “I started surfing when I was five years old,” says the California native. He picked up photography in high school and started taking it more seriously when he realized the dream of being a pro surfer might not pan out

Portraitures explore portraits from a dizzying array of angles By Krystal Grow | Published Jan 20, 2016 10:56 PM EST SHARE Luigi with daughter, Francesca, her husband and their family, 1973.

In the last few days it seems the biggest buzz from The Golden Globes came from the elegant black and white backstage portraits taken by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin and uploaded directly to Instagram. Having a photographer set up a pop-up studio to shoot backstage portraits of the stars

Committed to mounting a show of his photography at a local art gallery in late 2012, Jerrid Jones, a 36-year-old movie-studio sound supervisor and avid photographer from Mobile, AL, began planning a year in advance. He wanted new material for the show—mostly digitally manipulated portraiture. To cre

Get to know your zones for this clever, efficient technique By Stan Horaczek | Published Jan 11, 2016 10:47 PM EST SHARE The shape and quality of light used in a portrait can have an extremel

Plan now for easier retouching later By Peter Kolonia | Published Nov 7, 2014 3:07 PM EST Davis shot with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and 24–105mm f/4L USM II Canon EF lens with an exposure of 1/160 sec at f/11, ISO 200, for the base image of the mu

The magic of photography has always been its ability to freeze an instant in time—to capture what Henri Cartier-Bresson famously termed the decisive moment. It’s magical because we can’t see the world in that way—we have no pause button to savor our experiences stopped in time. But a single, frozen

A new view of a familiar landscape By Peter Kolonia | Published Jan 4, 2016 10:28 PM EST SHARE Manny Larioza captured this fascinating view that shows the picturesque landscape and the crowds

Nikon has been working on a series of instructional videos they call Nikon Behind the Scenes and they’re just now kicking off season two. The first installment of the new season is a helpful three-minute video by photographer Cliff Mautner about how to get good photos in less-than-ideal lighting con

Maybe you just pulled the wrapping paper from a shiny new DSLR. Or perhaps you used that holiday bonus money to get an interchangeable-lens compact. Or hey, maybe it’s summer and you just found this article through Google. Regardless, you just upped your camera gear game and for that, we’d like to c

Do you have what it takes to shoot car and motorcycle races like a pro? By Stan Horaczek | Published Aug 7, 2013 7:32 PM EDT SHARE If you’re as passionate about motor sports as you are about

_A while back, we asked our Twitter followers what their favorite lighting modifiers were. We got a whole variety of answers, but when Raymond Larose replied with “car headlights” and a dramatic portrait photo, I was intrigued. Raymond shared some tips for using your car’s hi-beams and lo-beams for

Fear is often effective in terms of kiling creativity By Stan Horaczek | Published Oct 31, 2014 8:32 PM EDT SHARE It sounds like a job interview question to ask “What’s your biggest fear?” Th

Like many of you, I’m a huge fan of Breaking Bad. So, when I saw the moody desert character portraits AMC released to promote the final season, I was excited and a little curious. They were shot by Frank Ockenfels III, a commercial photographer who has shot everything from big time movie posters (Ha

It’s photo 101: If you want a sharp picture of a fast-moving object, you need a short shutter speed. Yesterday, Elon Musk announced his plan for the Hyperloop, an ultra-high-speed transit system that will transport passengers from LA to San Francisco in a half hour. In doing so, it will hit speeds o

The right crop can lead the eye to a sweet spot By Pop Photo Staff | Published Oct 29, 2014 9:57 PM EDT Collins captured this scene along the Point Lobos coastline near Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA. The April trek also featured surfers, monasteries, and