50 incredible photography techniques

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50 Incredible

Photography

Techniques and

Tutorials

Over the recent months

we’ve been presenting

various showcases of

photography – while

many readers hated the

showcases, most readers

found them inspirational

and perfect for a lousy

workday’s morning.

By Vitaly Friedman 1

Published on April 22nd, 2009 in

Gimp , Photography ,

Techniques with

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141 Comments

of 4350 Incredible Photography Techniques and Tutorials | Smashing Magazine

12/17/2013http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/04/22/the-ultimate-photography-round-up/

However, what we should

have done in the

inspirational posts is not

just provide you with

some inspiration for your

work, but also present

useful photographic

techniques which can

help you to achieve

optimal pictures for your

designs. And as requested

by many of you, now it’s

time to correct our

mistake.

In this post we present useful

photographic techniques, tutorials

and resources for various kinds of

photography. You’ll learn how to set

up the perfect environment and

what techniques, principles and

rules of thumbs you should

consider when shooting your next

perfect photo. This round-up isn’t

supposed to be the ultimate one –

please feel free to suggest more

useful articles in the comments to

this post.

Among other things, we cover high-

speed photography, tilt-shift

photography, black and white

photography, motion blur, infrared,

night, smoke photography, macro

photography, HDR, panoramic

photography, RAW processing and



others. Hopefully, you’ll find many

of the listed tutorials and how-tos

useful for your regular work.

1. High Speed Photography

Celebration Of High-Speed

Photography

This post is supposed to provide

you with some inspiration of what

can be done with high-speed

photography. It also showcases

some truly stunning slow-motion

videos.

DIY – High Speed Photography at

Home

This guide describes how to

capture super fast movements

using ordinary camera gear and a



little home made electronics. It

describes the setup used, the

common problems and what can be

done to solve them.

Home-Made High Speed

Photography (PDF)

Pictures of high-speed events such

as popping balloons, breaking

glass, and splashing liquids reveal

interesting structures not visible to

the naked eye. With this guide you

can take your own high-speed

photos to captures these

ephemeral events. A very detailed

tutorial.



Quick guide to Simple High Speed

Macro Photography

This is a quick tutorial to get you

started with high speed

photography. There are tons of

other resources on the web, but

most of them are advanced and

require special equipment. This one

is simple and basic.



2. Tilt-Shift Photography

Tilt-shift photography refers to the

use of camera movements on small

- and medium-format cameras; it

usually requires the use of special

lenses.

“Tilt-shift” actually encompasses

two different types of movements:

rotation of the lens relative to the

image plane, called tilt, and

movement of the lens parallel to the

image plane, called shift. Tilt is

used to control the orientation of

the plane of focus (PoF), and hence

the part of an image that appears

sharp; it makes use of the

Scheimpflug principle. Shift is used



to change the line of sight while

avoiding the convergence of

parallel lines, as when

photographing tall buildings.

Another, less cost-intensive

technique called “tilt-shift miniature

faking” is a process in which a

photograph of a life-sized location

or object is manipulated so that it

looks like a photograph of a

miniature-scale model.

50 Beautiful Examples Of Tilt-Shift

Photography

Tilt-Shift Photography Photoshop

Tutorial

This tutorial was produced using

Photoshop CS2 on a PC.



Receding Hairline

With very little effort, you can take

existing photographs of everyday

scenes and make them look like

miniature models.



Free Auto Tilt-Shift Photoshop

Action

Plug-and-play solution for preparing

your photos.

3. Black and White Photography

Beautiful Black and White

Photography

One of the most beautiful

inspirational posts on Smashing

Magazine, featuring over 50 brilliant

works from photographers across

the globe.

5 Black and White Photography

Tips

A short, but useful article by by

Darren Rowse, featuring shoot in



RAW, low ISO and other

techniques. You may also consider

reading the articles Key Ingredients

for Black and White Images

Black and White Photography

Guide

Black and white photography starts

before the shot is even taken. In

this article you’ll find some quick

tips on what to look for to ensure

the perfect black and white

landscape – e.g. camera settings

for black and white photography

and what filters are good for black

and white landscapes.



Digital Black and White

This site features professional

photography articles written by

Keith Cooper. It covers black/white-

photography-techniques, image

manipulation techniques, tools,

articles and camera reviews.

The Top 5 Black & White

Photography Tips

Five handy tips to get you going in

the right direction: practice, focus

on contrast, focus on texture, use

color filters and more. If you want to

learn more about the actual black

and white conversion process in

Photoshop, see the article 12 Ways

to Make a Black & White Photo as

well.



4. Motion Blur Photography

45 Beautiful Motion Blur Photos

A showcase of motion blur photos.

Motion blur is frequently used to

show a sense of speed. You can

artificially achieve this effect in a

usual scene using cameras with a

slow shutter speed. Also Adobe

Photoshop can be used for this

purpose, though sometimes images

may look unnatural and

unprofessional.



How to Capture Motion Blur in

Photography

Capturing movement in images is

something that many

photographers only need to do

when photographing sports or other

fast-moving events.

Professional-Looking Motion-Blur

Effect for Your Images

“In this tutorial we’re going to show



you how to create a very popular

motion blur effect used in many

magazine and various other

professionally crafted images.”

Photoshop Tutorials: Create Silky

Smooth Waterfalls

“In this Adobe Photoshop tutorial,

we’re going to look at how to give

waterfalls a silky smooth

appearance, as if the photo were

taken with a longer exposure, which

would normally require the use of a

neutral density filter.”



Long Exposure Photos

Long exposure can be used to

create very interesting

photographs. It can be used, for

example, to create a bright photo in

low-light conditions or to create

motion blur for moving elements in

a photograph

5. Infrared Photography

40 Incredible Near-Infrared Photos

A showcase of near-infrared

photography. Near-infrared images

straight out of the camera do not

always look good and are usually

not as dramatic and beautiful as

normally captured images. Hence,

a lot of post-processing is done to

enhance these images.



Infrared Photography with a Digital

Camera

Thanks to digital photography, we

can take infrared pictures whenever

we please, mix them with “normal”

ones and see the results on the

spot, tweaking the settings to our

heart’s desire.



InfraRed photography

A specialized IR portal, with gallery

and forum.

LifePixel

Rich collection of manuals, how-to

and do-it-yourself guides.



Beyond Visible

Website about IR, UV and

luminescence photography. Here

you can found plenty of theory and

useful information about IR

adaptors for flashlights. Among the

resources is a huge collection of

links related to invisible light

photography.

Infrared (IR)

A gallery with a number of amazing

IR photos.

Infrared photography

Huge article with a number of

useful links. Nearly complete list of

IR filters and digital cameras that

can be updated for IR shooting.



6. Night Photography

60 Beautiful Examples Of Night

Photography

60 amazing examples of night

photography, created by some hard

-working and dedicated

photographers. Take a look at their

websites and portfolios.

The Nocturnes

The Nocturnes is an organization

dedicated to night photography.

Founded by Tim Baskerville in San

Francisco in 1991, it has grown to

become the premier source of

information and education on night

photography, as well as an

international community for night

photographers.



Lost America night photography

Wandering the deserted backroads

of the American Southwest, Troy

Paiva has explored the abandoned

underbelly of America since the

1970s. Since 1989 he’s been taking

pictures of it… at night, by the light

of the full moon.



Long Exposure Night Photography

This article shows you how to take

pictures of night scenes with no

moving objects.

Night Photography by David

Baldwin

Night photography of landscapes

and architecture.



“Strangers in the night”

How-to guide for night photography

with point-and-shoot cameras.

MalekTips (removed due to errors)

Some solutions for avoiding typical

problems with night photography.

Learn Night Photography

Quick and dirty guide to defining

exposure time for typical night

subjects.

Night Landscape Photography

Capture stunning landscape

images during the black of night.



7. Smoke Art Photography

Smoke Photography and Smoke

Art

A round-up of some of the best

examples of photos and artworks

where smoke dominates.

Smoke Art Photography – An

Introduction

This articles features smoke art

photography tips from Stoffel De

Roover; it describes the typical

setup, important techniques and

necessary adjustments for a perfect

smoke art photo.

Smoke Art: Professional’s Notes

Personal photography notes from

Graham Jeffery that are part

instruction, and part a description of



his own technique, and a few things

that he has discovered along the

way.

Photographing Smoke

The interview with Graham

Jefferey, of Sensitive Light fame

(see the link above), with

interesting insights into practice and

handy tips and tricks. Learn how to

get the smoke right, how to set up

the perfect lighting and exposure

and how to manipulate images

digitally.

How to photograph smoke –

Photography podcast

This podcast talks about how to

photograph smoke in a professional

way. It discusses photographing

different types of smoke including

incense, outdoor smoke and liquid

nitrogen.



How to: Smoke Photography

This simple guide describes a set

up for smoke art photography.

Smoke photography video tutorial

Video tutorial on smoke

photography.



Make: How-To Smoke Photography

Learn how to create and shoot

sculptures made with smoke and

how to paint with smoke.

8. Macro Photography

25 Beautiful Macro Photography

Shots

A round-up of some truly revealing



and inspiring macro photographs

which are sure to have you

marveling at the world around you.

Macro Photography

How to take close-up pictures of

small things, by Philip Greenspun

Introduction to Macro Photography

Set-up and camera settings for

macro photography (8-minute

video).

Reversing Lenses for Macro

Photography

A guide to building a lens for

extreme macro shooting.



Woven Shadows

Digital photography video tutorial

(48 MB).

Macro photography

A round-up of gadgets that will help

you move really close to your

subject.

Captain’s European Butterfly Guide

Engaging guide for this special kind

of hunting (of course, you can use it

outside of Europe, too).

Macro Photography Tips for Point

and Shoot Digital Cameras

Most of the articles here are geared

to DSLR owners. But they are also

useful for macro photography with

compact cameras, too.



Extreme Macro Photography on a

Budget

DIY extreme macro lens with a

Pringles container.

Macrophoto Journal on deviantART

A number of excellent photos,

forums and technical articles.



Macro Photography Tutorial

Short review on insect shooting,

and amazing photos by M. Plonsky,

PhD.

9. HDR

If you don’t like these kinds of

photos, please move along. No

complaints will be accepted.

35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

This post covers 35 beautiful and

perfectly executed HDR pictures.

Some of them may look surreal, too



colorful, even magic or fake, but

they are not. Keep in mind that

they’ve all been developed from

normal photos; not a single image

is an illustration.

HDR Tutorial

HDR how-to guide, mostly related

to Mac users.



HDR: High Dynamic Range

Photography

HDR how-to guide with Photoshop

CS2

In-Camera HDR detailed tutorial

YouTube video tutorial

My HDR Tutorial

Clear tutorial on using your digital

camera, Photomatix and

Photoshop, by Markus Linke.

HDR tutorial

Tutorial on HDR with free-of-charge

software GIMP and Qtpfsgui



HDR Tutorial

Tutorial on HDR with Adobe

Lightroom, Photoshop CS2 and

Photomatix Pro



10. RAW Processing

A raw image file contains minimally

processed data from the image

sensor. Raw image files are

sometimes called digital negatives,

because they serve the same role

as negatives in film photography.

But unlike negatives, these files

need much more processing.

RAW vs. JPEG: The Real Story

You can take the RAW image file

and make all of your choices about

size, color, contrast, etc., and then

output it to a new original each time

(which might be a JPEG). This is

greatly aided by the fact that there’s

12-bit color. The software can make

easier choices and less

compromises.

Digital camera RAW converter

comparision

This article is not an in-depth

analysis of seven different

programs. The goal is to give the

reader an overview of each

program’s features and capabilities

and to provide reasonably accurate

image comparisons. With Canon

1Ds Mk II, Canon 400D XTi, Canon

50D and Nikon D300 images

Choosing RAW Image Processing

Software

The most expensive multi-function



RAW processing software is not

always the best for converting the

wide range of current RAW image

file formats.

RAW Processing Workflow Using

Phase One’s Capture One 4

Capture One 4 is more than just a

rewritten version of Phase One’s

Capture One LE. It offers improved

speed and quality of RAW

conversion, and it builds on its

strengths as a RAW-processing

workflow tool.

Aperture, Lightroom and Capture

One review:

A full-range review of three of the

most popular and powerful tools for

RAW processing

Lightroom Presets: The Ultimate

Free List

“The biggest, most updated list of

free Adobe Lightroom presets. It’s

true you can have too many, but

this is the best jumping-off point for

finding new presets. Taste as many

as you like, then tell us your

Part 1• 5

Part 2• 6

Part 3• 7

Part 4• 8

Part 5• 9



favorites.” Note that the presets

don’t work with RAW and JPEG files

the same.

11. Panoramic Photography

A panorama — or panoramic photo

— is usually made by stitching

several pictures taken with the

same camera into one.

How To: Panoramic Photography

Making a panoramic photo really is

only taking the pictures, stitching

them together on your computer.

The more effort and attention you

put into the first step, the easier the

second step will be and the more

realistic your final photo will look.

Taking Panoramic Landscapes –

The Easy Solution

Panoramas have a reputation for

being hard to take. Dedicated



panorama cameras are available,

but unless you’ve got at least

$1000 to spare, you probably can’t

afford one! But you can take

panoramas with any kind of

camera.

Digital Photography Tutorial –

Panorama Stitching

“Many digital cameras, even some

budget-priced pocket compacts,

have a feature known as

“Panorama Stitching” mode. If you

haven’t experimented with it yet, it

is designed to help with a particular

type of photograph, or rather series

of photographs, in which

successive shots are taken as the

camera is panned across a scene.”

Building Panoramic Images in The

GIMP

Panoramic landscapes make for

some amazing photos. There’s

nothing like the relaxation and

tranquility felt when gazing over the

sweeping wilderness, save for the

hassle of actually getting there.

Using a digital camera, it’s possible

to stitch photos together to simulate

the expensive effects of a

landscape filter.



The easy way is to use Pandora.

Pandora is a plug-in for The GIMP

that tries to match the edges of the

photos, using a best guess at

where one photo ends and the next

begins.

12. Special Issues

Architecture photography, a

beginners’ guide

Insightful tips for photography of

stationary subjects by Michael

Jenkins. You may also want to

learn how to shoot bridges, statues,

buildings and piers.

Guide To Architectural Photography

Despite architecture’s diversity

there are a number of simple rules

that apply in most situations, or will



at least get you thinking more

deeply about how you can best

portray a particular piece of

architecture.

Fixing photos shot from airplanes

One of the cool things about getting

a window seat in an airplane is that

you get a unique opportunity to

photograph things from a high

vantage point. On the flip side,

when you get home, you often find

the photos look washed out and the

color poor. Luckily, there is not

much that Photoshop can’t recover,

provided that the photographs are

in focus.



DIY Lighting Hacks for Digital

Photographers

“Lighting can be the difference

between a good shot and a great

one. Walk into most professional

photographers’ studios, and you’ll

be confronted with truckloads of

lighting equipment. To the average

hobby photographer, it’s enough to

make your mind boggle — and

make your stomach turn as you

think about the cost of it all.

In this post, I’ve found 10 DIY flash

and lighting hacks that put some of

these lighting techniques within the

grasp of the rest of us.”



Lighting simulator

A great tool to plan and test your

portrait lighting with one light

source, with fill light if wished

FAQ: Photo Filters

Optical filters function in digital

photography much as they do in

film work. Properly used, they can

condition the light entering the

camera in favorable ways — often

in ways that post-processing can’t

easily duplicate.

10 Top Photography Composition

Rules

This post reviews important rules of

good photography, such as Rules

of Thirds, balancing elements,

leading lines, symmetry and

patterns, viewpoint, background,

depth, framing, cropping and

experimentation.



F O O T N O T E S :

Vitaly Friedman -

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/author/vitaly

-friedman/?rel=author

0

Gimp -

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/gimp/

1

Photography -

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/photography/

2

Techniques -

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/techniques/

3

Part 1 -

http://chromasoft.blogspot.com/2008/01/lightroom

-aperture-and-capture-one-

mini_24.html

4

Part 2 -

http://chromasoft.blogspot.com/2008/01/acr

-aperture-capture-one-dng-

lightroom.html

5



Part 3 -



mini.html

6

Part 4 -



mini_17.html

7

Part 5 -



mini_23.html

8

Vitaly Friedman loves

beautiful content and

doesn’t like to give in

easily. Vitaly is writer,

speaker, author and

editor-in-chief of

Smashing Magazine.

Join him for a workshop

on responsive Web

design in Zürich,

Switzerland on

December 9th, 2013.

With a commitment to quality content for the

design community.

Made in Germany. 2006-2013.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com



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