Pro Techniques
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David FitzSimmons Aug 01, 2009 0 comments

This emotional rush that comes with first seeing a waterfall—and then the incurable urge to find as many vantage points as possible around it—compelled me to begin documenting these secluded, sibilant landscapes. You see, I have always loved waterfalls. When I was younger, my parents loaded the three boys in the family station wagon, “the boat,” as we called it, pointed...

Pro Techniques
Jim Zuckerman Oct 01, 2008 0 comments

I recently had the opportunity to photograph poison dart frogs, and I was excited to do so because these unique creatures have brilliant colors and are endlessly fascinating. While they make for amazing pictures, they also present significant technical challenges. I had to do some thoughtful planning before I attempted to shoot them. I started out by buying several tropical plants...

Pro Techniques
Lou Jacobs Jr. Apr 02, 2012 Published: Feb 01, 2012 0 comments
Portrait photographers are responsible for a lot of happiness among a wide variety of people, because well-done family pictures grow more valuable yearly. They usually portray infants, seniors, friends, and relatives, though sometimes portraits are interpretations of unusual subjects. Thomas Balsamo knows this because he has 30 years of experience photographing families and children. His work has also led him to a personal project that originated when his good will and curiosity were extended toward individuals or groups who found their portrait sittings emotionally and psychologically unusual, as well as uplifting.
Pro Techniques
Barry Tanenbaum Sep 01, 2011 Published: Jul 01, 2011 0 comments
Outdoor and nature images are Michael’s specialty, and he’s been photographing for over 20 years in two of the world’s best locations for great outdoor imagery: Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. In fact, his images appear on posters sold by the National Park Service in their visitors centers. He also runs Visions Photographic Workshops, which regularly journeys to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.
Pro Techniques
Barry Tanenbaum Jan 31, 2013 Published: Dec 01, 2012 1 comments
While most of us are dedicated to capturing fleeting moments by slicing seconds into ever smaller fractions, Michael S. Miller has a different tale to tell. In a project he calls Long Light, he takes the time to let the moments simply accrue.

Long Light began with Michael’s viewing of historic view camera images. One in particular—a Mississippi riverboat, blurred by the camera’s slow shutter speed—caught his attention. “The water had this mystical kind of feeling to it because of the long exposure,” Michael says, “and I thought, all right, let’s see what happens if I do some long exposures of rivers.”

Pro Techniques
Jim Zuckerman Aug 01, 2006 0 comments

Photography can do two things that no other artistic medium can do: It can freeze motion so we are able to examine every detail in a fast-moving subject, thus revealing things that our eyes could never catch; and it can blur the same subject to express the fluidity and aesthetics of motion. When you blur a subject with a long enough shutter speed, it blends the background with a...

Pro Techniques
Jay Abend Oct 01, 2003 0 comments

As a pro photographer I get a lot of questions about my work. While many address my equipment and techniques, a lot of people want to know what I earn. There is no question more loaded than "How much do you make?" (Perhaps except...

Susan McCartney Aug 01, 2002 0 comments

My niece and keen amateur photographer Elizabeth Martin celebrated the coming of the new millennium on a mountainside near Katmandu, Nepal. She carried a backpack containing a Canon EOS Elan, 20 rolls of color print film, three pairs of wool socks, her...

Pro Techniques
Barry Tanenbaum Dec 01, 1999 0 comments

Lindsay Silverman
Marketing Manager, SLR Program Development
Nikon Inc.

Flexible Flyer. "Don't be married to one method of shooting. Even though the cameras I use can be customized, I...

Rick Sammon Aug 01, 2001 0 comments

It's that time of year when many of us are gearing up for our summer vacations. Some folks will go to the far sides of the planet, others will stay close to home. But, no matter where we go, Shutterbug readers have one thing in common:...

Peter K. Burian May 01, 2001 0 comments

Whenever I judge photo contests including a travel category, one fact quickly becomes apparent: picture-taking during vacation and other trips is not always taken seriously. The photographer who might spend hours making an exceptional landscape...

Pro Techniques
Tim Verthein Nov 01, 2009 0 comments

Hopefully you haven’t thrown out your old TLR. I don’t mean your Yashica-Mat, or your Minolta Autocord, or even your Mamiya C330.

Pro Techniques
Barry Tanenbaum Jul 01, 2002 0 comments

We had a theory that somewhere
in the career of many a pro photographer there's one photograph that marks
a turning point. It might be the one that brings the first recognition
or first sale; or the one with which she proves to herself that, yes...

Pro Techniques
Howard Millard Sep 01, 2006 0 comments

Color can thrill, color can dazzle, but often a black and white or monochrome image is more powerful. Black and white may better convey the feeling you want to evoke for a particular image--more dramatic, more abstract. Paradoxically, even when you know that you want a final photo in black and white, you should shoot digitally in color, as you should scan a film or print...

Pro Techniques
Jay Miller Aug 04, 2011 Published: Jun 01, 2011 1 comments
Photographing airplanes and other flying machines is not something one routinely finds on a list of preferred occupations. It is in fact one of the more esoteric slices of the professional photographer’s pie. Not surprisingly, aviation photography is a demanding and potentially dangerous occupation. It requires a high level of arcane expertise in a very specialized subject area. Understandably, there is little room for error. Hanging out of flying machines with a camera in your hands is not a run-of-the-mill photo assignment.