Originally used as training for alpine or big wall climbing, bouldering is now well established as a sport in its own right. You climb a “problem,” typically on a free-standing boulder (hence the name) or the base of a cliff. Problems range from a single move through extended sequences. The compressed nature of the problems means the style of climbing can be much more powerful and/or gymnastic than other types of climbing. For me, it is climbing distilled, and the joy…
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Recommended Camera Settings for Portrait Photography
Taking pictures of people can be challenging for an amateur photographer. Everyone enjoys seeing good portrait photos, whether of family, friends, or just an interesting face. And, as photographers, we also enjoy being able to make an image quickly, which is why we hate when something goes wrong with the photo or with our camera settings. With that in mind, here are some technical tips to help you improve the quality of your portrait photography and use the best possible…
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Tips For a Successful Self-Driving African Safari
Many photographers dream of the opportunity to photograph Africa’s famed wildlife in its natural surroundings. The ease with which you can find and photograph large mammals in some areas of the continent is incomparable and its landscapes are often striking beautiful. While the thought of traveling there may seem intimidating or unattainably expensive to some, in reality Africa is more accessible than it may feel from the comfort of your armchair. African Safaris come in two basic types: self-driving and…
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In Birdland with No Camouflage
In this article, I will guide you to the world’s largest northern gannet colony. The Bass Rock (that’s Baah-ss, not the 4 string instrument) is a (very) big volcanic basalt rock in Firth of Forth, just off the coast 20 miles from Edinburgh. Quite old, too: 320 million years, give or take.
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How to Take Interesting Wildlife Images
At least at one point of time in our photography journey, almost all of us want to try our hands on wildlife photography. Be it an attempt to photograph a bird in our backyard or taking a jungle safari, it is pretty rare to see someone with a camera not attempting to shoot the wild side. For a person like me living in India, the land of tigers & elephants to a wide array of resident and migratory birds flocking…
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How to Photograph Figure Skating
I have always liked figure skating. There is something about how skaters glide, apparently effortlessly, on the ice. They show tremendous power, yet such grace. Along the same lines, I have always been interested in photography, although I had never really pursued it until a few years ago. I think the reason was that I hadn’t found a subject that compelled me to go out and start taking pictures. So, when my two daughters got into the sport a few years…
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Taking Pictures Outside Your Comfort Zone
After deciding to take my photography a little more seriously about three years ago, I came up with a strategy (a somewhat loose one) for how I might improve. My end goal was to find myself as a photographer and improve my skills along the way. In the back of my mind, I still harbour hopes of turning professional, but for the moment I am content with just spending some of my spare time learning and developing my skills. At…
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The Visual Logic of Black & White
It seemed that my university years were filled with little other than lectures, studying, term papers and exams. Having said that, I did secretly have one hobby. In my second year I had purchased a Minolta Autocord film camera. The downside of being an impoverished student was that I could only afford B&W film, B&W chemicals and B&W contact sheets. The square 2-1/4” by 2-1/4” images arranged tightly into rows and columns were my only way to later enjoy what I…
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Innocence and Emotion: Portrait Photography of Children and Elderly People
Through the years, I have seen hundreds of thousands of moments pass in front of my camera lens. Happy ones, sad ones, gloomy ones, serene ones. Some full of life, as well as others – with nostalgia. Which of those moments have I captured in my images, though? Within this essay, I would like to pay attention to something which has always fascinated me and has made me press the shutter button: taking portraits of small children and elderly people.
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The Practicalities of Not Becoming a Pro Photographer
There is so much antagonism in photography: light versus darkness, DSLR versus mirrorless, geek versus artist, Nikon versus Canon. And yes, soon after getting involved in it, one will inevitably face the ultimate dilemma: professional versus amateur. I got my first DSLR, a Nikon 3100, a good few years ago as a birthday present from my wife. At some point during the process of reading an astronomical number of articles, blogs and reviews, shooting thousands of pictures, buying (and then…
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Essential Tips for Photographing Theater Performances
Theater photography involves providing images that are concise and maintain the integrity of the light and the vision of the director. Over the last several years, I’ve worked with local theater groups in our area to provide promotional images and headshots, as well as archive images of their productions. Archive images are used by the actors, set designers/builders and costume designers to represent their work. I have learned during these last few years to apply time saving-techniques such as the…
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How to Take Family Portraits on a Budget
I want to share with you some useful tips for taking family portrait photos on a budget, including how I got into the satisfying world of portraiture after years of taking random (and disappointing) snapshots. Hopefully, this post will interest family photographers who want less expensive equipment, and any beginners to photography who simply want to capture nice photographs of people. Many amateurs cannot spend lots of money on quite expensive photography gear and do not have time to travel…
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Behind-The-Camera Shy: Tips for the Timid Photographer
If you’re at all like me, circumspect and bashful, then taking candid portraits of strangers can be intimidating, if not something you avoid altogether. Candids of everyday people are what drew me to photography in the first place, so to get over my reticence I came up with the following strategies.
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Using Manual Focus Lenses on Nikon DSLR Cameras
One of the greatest features of single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras is the interchangeability of their lenses. From super-wide fisheye to ultra-telephoto, interchangeable lenses have given SLR cameras the versatility to tackle almost any photographic challenge, and enabled 35mm film SLRs to dominate the market for “serious” photography for decades, until the advent of digital SLRs (DSLRs) beginning around the year 2000.
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Getting Motivated Again After a Newborn
Having a child cannot be described, it can only be experienced. Having a child will bring you joy in ways you never anticipated, but will also test your resilience skills like never before. Having a child will change you physically, and mentally. So what’s the relation with this and Photography Life? Nasim recently posted a Guest Post Contest. As I was going through the Suggestions section, I felt none of these articles would have been useful for me 1.5 years…
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How to Photograph the Milky Way Bow
In this article, we will take a closer look at how to photograph the Milky Way bow. I wrote this guide from the point of view of a person who has largely taught himself. During the last four years, I have also had the invaluable help of a fellow night photographer. I made all the mistakes and then tried a lot of corrections while I learned and worked to inspire others to try it out, too. I will admit to…
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Photographing the Long-Necked Padaung Ladies
Two ethical issues might obstruct your visit to Kayah State in Myanmar to visit the “long-necked ladies” of the Padaung Tribe. First, you might not wish to visit a country whose army is committing genocide against its Rohingya minority, never mind that you are at the far end of the country from that sadness. But, your tourist dollars are supporting the guides, restaurant owners and their staff, and all the other people who rely on them for their livelihood. And,…
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Taking Winning Shots is Never Incidental
After I had retired, and my wife and I had moved to Kelowna, BC from Montreal I became quite serious about digital photography, a luxury I could never have enjoyed while working. Exploring the beautiful Okanagan Valley while hiking with my wife, Jane and our Golden Retriever became a large part of our new outdoor life. Having been married only a short time, I can remember my wife, who knew I was a committed photographer, once asking me why I…
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Five Tips for Improving Your Landscape Photography Compositions
Whether you are exclusively a landscape photographer or simply someone who likes to capture awesome shots of just about anything, landscape photography can be an excellent way to hone your ability to put together a composition. Lots of subjects that result in excellent shots require a photographer to react quickly in order to capture a moment that will be gone in mere seconds. A landscape, on the other hand, comes with a stillness that allows that same photographer to stop,…
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What is Low-Key Monochrome Photography?
With all the amazing new cameras and lenses creating outstanding color, most of us are flooded with saturated images all over social media. But, a few decades back, most of what we saw were gray worlds. Even though current day photography can bring out millions of colors to life, the gray world is calm, peaceful and fascinating on its own. In this article, we shall see how to make interesting monochrome images and bring them to life, in a nutshell.
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