Congratulations to Hi il Lee for winning the recent Patterns Of Winter Assignment with the image, “Looking at the Sky.”
View the winning image and a selection of submissions below. And be sure to check out our current photography assignment here and enter your best shots!
Today’s Photo of the Day is “Sandhill Cranes in Monte Vista” by Gary Gray. Location: Monte Vista, Colorado.
Want to get your images in the running for a Photo of the Day feature? Photo of the Day is chosen from various galleries, including Assignments, Galleries and Contests. Assignments have weekly winners that are featured on the website homepage, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To get your photos in the running, all you have to do is submit them.
When you think about camera gear, what comes to mind? A camera bag might be an afterthought, but I think it’s almost as important as the camera itself! Think about it – what good is a high-quality camera if you don’t have a good way to carry it into the field? As a wildlife photographer, I find it critically important to get a bag that’s suited to field work. In this article, I’ll highlight the most important features I believe the ideal camera backpack must include for wildlife photography.
Boudoir photography is a unique form of portraiture in which you use many of the skills employed for other types of people pictures, and a few more. In the quick tutorial below you’ll learn an important technique that’s often ignored.
When shooting boudoir you need to nail focus, exposure, and composition, like with all styles of portraiture, but there’s another key goal with this particular genre; namely, accentuating the model’s physical attributes to achieve flattering images that are also sensuous and alluring.
Effective posing is critically important, and some photographers overlook the importance of carefully positioning a subject’s hands in a way that adds to the overall effect. This is exactly what you’ll learn how to do today.
Mike Lloyd is a California-based pro who launched his career as a fashion photographer before narrowing his focus to boudoir. And in much the same way that good pianists make great organ players, accomplished fashion photographers have the skills necessary for excelling at boudoir.
As Lloyd says, “If you’ve ever shot boudoir you know how difficult it to pose hands and have them look good and natural.” This episode simplifies this task by demonstrating how to master the placement of hands using several of Lloyd’s favorite poses.
One reason Lloyd’s work is so compelling is that he’s an expert visual storyteller, a skill that’s common among all excellent photographers—no matter what type of images they shoot. As you see, hands can play an important role in accomplishing this task.
You may want to make a few screen grabs for future reference as Lloyd demonstrates several hand poses. These include placing hands sideways, asking the model to hold various items, positioning the subject’s hands in her hair, and a few more.
All this takes is a bit of practicing directing a model, and you’ll be able to get the job done with ease.