Surrealistic photography has been around almost since the invention of photography. Where techniques used to involve in-camera tricks, special processing techniques in the darkroom, and even cutting up and re-arranging of photos, many surreal effects can now be achieved much more easily and quickly using image editing software.
In this article we'll look at five different techniques for taking a normal photo and making it into something surreal.
Color contrast can be used in color photography to help a subject stand out, or alternatively, blend in, with a background. It's also important for black and white photography as an item that stands out due to a strong color contrast may disappear into the background in black and white.
In this article we'll look more at color contrast - how it can help or hinder, and how you can control it.
While film photography and digital photography do have a few differences, of course they share a great deal in common. Composition, light, camera settings, and (in many cases) even the way the way the camera is operated are the same whether you're shooting film or digital.
However, there are some things that are not strictly restricted to film photographers, but film shooters tend to think about or deal with much more than digital users. In this article I want to look at ten of these points, and how thinking about / considering these things can improve your digital photography.
Tonal contrast refers to the difference in brightness between different areas of an image. While important for all photography, tonal contrast is particularly important for black and white photography, since there is no color contrast to be had.
Understanding the differences between high and low tonal contrast and the feelings different levels of contrast can contribute to an image are quite important for good photography. In this article we'll look at this in more detail, also covering how you can affect contrast to get the look for your images you want.
Photographs are 2D captures of our 3D world. Yet we can still understand the form of items in photographs thanks to depth cues. In some cases, such as abstract and trick photography, it may actually be preferred to avoid anything in the photo that indicates depth.
Understanding the different depth cues that can be used in a photo can help you make stronger photos. When you know these cues you can ensure you include them to make an image more '3D', or ensure you don't include them for a flatter '2D' look.
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese word roughly translating as 'imperfect aged beauty'. It is used to describe a particular philosophy that beauty can be found in the old, the everyday, the imperfect. And that everything is in a state of transition from or to nothingness.
Wabi-sabi photography, then, can be said to be noticing and capturing this beauty, for others to see. Wabi-sabi in photography can be split into 3 main types - photography of the overlooked beauty, photography of worn and weathered beauty, and adding imperfections to staged images to make them seem more real. We'll look at all 3 types in this article.
Interchangeable Lens Cameras are often sold in kits containing a basic zoom lens. Because these lenses come with the camera as part of a kit, they are often referred to as 'kit lenses'.
The kit lens depends on the camera, but it is practically always a zoom. Often it is something like an 18-55mm for an APS-C camera, 24-100mm for a full frame camera, or 14-24mm for a m4/3 camera. These are all roughly equivalent.
The kit lens lets you go from wide-angle to short telephoto and everything in between. It's a good all-round general purpose lens.
Often you may read disparaging remarks about kit lenses. For sure, they're not the sharpest lenses around, and they don't have fast apertures for easily creating smooth and creamy out of focus backgrounds. But they're surprisingly useful and can give great results when you play to their strengths.
Flat Lay Photography is a style of photography where a group of items are photographed from above, giving a top down view. Items are laid flat on the surface, facing the camera.
Flat lay photographs often have a minimalist aesthetic to them. They work well for showing off a collection of smallish objects and are most commonly used for lifestyle, product & food photography. Sometimes all the items in the photo will be of equal importance. But often there is one main element (such as a food dish or handbag) with extra elements that add to the story (such as ingredients or accessories).
Although flat lay photographs may appear relatively simple, there's more to a good flat image than just laying out a few objects then shooting down on them. In this article we'll look at some tips for creating great flat lay photos.
With the increased availability of photography editing software and the introduction of new, easier to use compositing tools, 'trick' photos have become much more common. Compositing together photos to create a trick photo is not a new technique though - even in the early 20th century photos would be cut up then stuck together to form a new image.
However, trick photography isn't just compositing photos together to make something new. There are plenty of tricks that can be performed right in camera, with no Photoshop wizardry needed at all.
In this article we'll look at 10 different tricks that can be achieved wholly in-camera but usually work best with some post production editing as well.
Split toning is a technique where a color cast is applied to an image, but the color cast applied to the highlights is different to the color applied to the shadows.
Different color casts can give different feelings to an image. Oranges, reds, and yellows can give a warm, sunny day feeling. Blues can give a cold feeling. Greens and magentas can give a cross-processed film look.
There are quite a few different ways a split toned effect can be applied to an image. Different methods can be applied at different stages of the image editing process, they differ in how much control they offer, and how quickly they can be applied. In this article we'll look at the main split toning methods so you can decide for yourself which one would work best for your needs.
