Pro Techniques

One of the most difficult obstacles to overcome for the aspiring studio photographer is the lack of a proper space to shoot. Spare bedrooms, garages, attics, and basements have all been transformed into makeshift studios, and most lack adequate space to...

He stands in about 3 feet of roiling surf, wetsuit jersey glistening from repeated dunkings. The sky above Oahu’s North Shore is deep blue. Undertow currents grasp his legs—eroding sand beneath his swim fins—as water rushes seaward to build the next huge wave. He holds his bulky waterproof camera housing tightly, faces west toward the setting sun and checks the long tether attached to his wrist. He turns his head to watch the wave rise ever higher—a towering blue-green monster that’s starting to curl, white spume blowing off its top. He braces himself as best he can against the forces raging around him, points the camera toward the golden Hawaiian sunset, and waits as tons of water begins to curl over him, forming a tube. At what he hopes is the right instant, he fires off several shots and prepares to be pounded and rag-dolled by the massive wave.

Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris, on view at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art through May 4, 2014, features nearly 100 photographs and marks the first American retrospective of this Parisian-born (1813-1879) member of photography’s very first generation. Marville’s photographs are remarkable as images and also provide invaluable documentation of the transformation of Paris from a medieval city to the world capital we know today. The show is highly recommended for photographers, students of history, and everyone who loves the “City of Light.”

The pearlescent colors that appear in soap bubbles are endlessly fascinating if you take the time to look at them closely. It is chaos at its most beautiful—a random mix of color that, unfortunately, we can’t freeze with our mind to examine any one instant in time. With a camera and flash, however, we can capture these amazing works of art and examine every detail, even though each design lasts only milliseconds.

When we heard that David Alan Harvey was doing a book on women, it didn't seem like a surprising subject. A photojournalist with over 30 National Geographic stories to his credit, plus several books, we imagined that in the course of over 30 years of travel and photography he'd have many compelling images from which to choose. Not to mention current assignments that...

A unique way to create complex geometric, multicolored designs is to attach tiny Christmas tree lights to a bicycle wheel and spin it in a dark room or outside at night. I found 7 ft of Christmas lights powered by 3 AA batteries online for about $12, and that was just enough to cover the entire circumference of the front wheel of my son’s medium sized bike. I took the wheel off the bike with a simple crescent wrench and used black electrician’s tape to affix the lights and the wires onto the rim, figure A.

Being a photography instructor is very rewarding and has proved to be an inspiration to me. Teaching Digital Photography at UCLA Extension in Los Angeles, I have found the interaction with students benefited me at least as much as them. But what if someone wants to take your class and is halfway around the world? That is where online teaching comes in and I am lucky enough to have...