Mid-July on Boost Your Photography

A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography is a twice-monthly post rounding up all the great content available on BYP that has been published during this same time of year, across the years. It's a quick way to catch up on content you may have missed, including seasonal and time-sensitive photography tips and ideas.

• Long Exposure Photography at the Fair(e). A fair or carnival is an incredible opportunity to practice your long exposure photography. Bring along a tripod, and entire world of light and photographs awaits you! Read the full article for detailed suggestions and "how to" instructions.

• Best Options for Printing Your Photographs. Find out which online photo retailer came out the winner, and which ones are recommended for printing your own precious photographs.

• Demystifying the Histogram. Learn how to use your histogram to adjust your shooting in the field and get exactly the image you want. This post also presents examples of specific types of histograms and the images that produce them.

• Puddle Photography Part Deux. Another look at puddle reflection photography with examples from Grand Tetons National Park.

• Black and White Photography: do you shoot or do you post-process? This post lays out a comparison of the various ways to get a black and white image - shooting in-camera black and white vs. shooting in color (or RAW) and post-processing.

• Must Have Camera Apps for Your Smart Phone or Tablet. This first post in the apps series takes a look at apps that you can use to control your camera itself while shooting with your phone or tablet. Includes apps for Android and Apple.

• Keeping Your Camera and Sensor Clean. The post lays out everything you need to do (and have) to keep your camera and especially your camera sensor clean, from basic day-to-day maintenance and prevention to what happens when you end up with a whole mess of dust and grime on your sensor (like in the photo above). Read on for the full details.

• August Photography Book Club: week 1. A group of photographers, via Flickr and 365Project, joined together to do a month-long Book Club of Freeman Patterson's Photography and the Art of Seeing. The first week covered the sections on "Barriers to Seeing" and "Learning to Observe."

• Spring Roundup. The very first round up, this one covered all of the posts from the first quarter of Boost Your Photography, all in one place!

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July on Boost Your Photography

A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography is a twice-monthly post rounding up all the great content available on BYP that has been published during this same time of year, across the years. It's a quick way to catch up on content you may have missed, including seasonal and time-sensitive photography tips and ideas.

• Easy Set-Up for Formal Newborn Photographs. I share some behind-the-scenes how to advice for shooting more formal-looking newborn and family portraits.

• An Introduction to Aperture. To get the shot you want, you need to understand what aperture is and what it can do for you. This post lays out a quick overview of aperture, including a description of the graphic above, and provides links to more detailed posts.

• Teachings Kids Photography, part 2: composition and design. Kids can make incredible photographs, especially when they have a bit of background about how to compose their images and how to include design elements. This post includes example images to get them started.

• An Introduction to Filters in Photography. Filters serve many purposes, from protecting your lens to making skies pop to creating incredible effects. Find out how and why to use the most common types of filters, including UV, circular polarizers, and a variety of neutral density filters.

• Strategic White Balance. White balance is so much more than a "set it and forget it" camera setting. Find out how to use white balance strategically to capture incredible photographs!

• Stacking Photographs: Star Trails and Beyond. An overview of the technique of "stacking" multiple photographs to create extremely long exposures. This technique is commonly used with star trails, as pictured above, but has other applications. All you need is your camera, a tripod, a remote, and a free piece of software to create amazing results!

• Easy Photography Upgrade: Tri-fold Board. Learn some amazing photography tricks that you can accomplish with the help of a simple tri-fold board.

• How Long Does Your Camera's Battery Last? Do you know the answer to this simple but important question? Read on for an easy technique for tracking your camera's battery life. Never get stuck with a surprise dead battery again!

• August Photography Book Club. A group of photographers, via Flickr and 365Project, joined together to do a month-long Book Club of Freeman Patterson's Photography and the Art of Seeing. This introduction explains about the book choice and the month-long project

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June on Boost Your Photography

A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography is a twice-monthly post rounding up all the great content available on BYP that has been published during this same time of year, across the years. It's a quick way to catch up on content you may have missed, including seasonal and time-sensitive photography tips and ideas.

• Make the Shot: Spoon Reflection Photography. Have a camera? Have a spoon? Have a great time getting some creative shots using spoon reflections. This how to posts gives you all the tips you need to know to get great shots like the one above.

• Quick Tips for Better Fireworks Photographs. With July right around the corner, what better time to brush up on your techniques for photographing fireworks! This post lays out everything you need to know, including suggestions for equipment and settings.

• Composition: Orientation. Do you think about why you hold your camera the way that you do? Find out how to use orientation intentionally, whether you are shooting horizontally or vertically.

• Composition: Framing. You can use other elements in your image to frame your main subject. Find out how to use framing to make an impact in your photographs!

• 3-Month Baby Portrait Ideas. Images from a three-month old photography shoot.

• Troubleshooting Exposure: how to fix common exposure problems. This highly popular post is a follow up to All about Exposure and provides a detailed how to for using strategies like AE Lock, recomposing, and bracketing to solve all of your exposure issues. Get the picture right the first time, in-camera!

• Travel Photography: Make a Shot List. Traveling at all this summer? Be sure that you come home with all of the shots that you want - find out why and how to make a shot list and get all of the photographs that you are after.

• Postcards from Rainier. A photo-walk through of a recent trip to Mount Rainier National Park, including some thoughts about how to make the best of the photography situations that you encounter when traveling.

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Mid-April on Boost Your Photography

A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography is a twice-monthly post rounding up all the great content available on BYP that has been published during this same time of year, across the years. It's a quick way to catch up on content you may have missed, including seasonal and time-sensitive photography tips and ideas.

• Spinning Fire with Steel Wool Photography. It's easy to capture amazing photographs with steel wool spinning. This article will walk you through all that you need to do to creative these types of photographs safely and easily (even with a point-and-shoot camera)!

• Teaching Kids Photography: shooting modes, focus, and exposure. This is the first in our series of posts about teaching kids photography, based on my experiences running a photography club with elementary and middle school students. Learn about where to start, regardless of whether you are using phone, point-and-shoot, or DSLR cameras.

• Great Advice for Printing and Displaying Photography. A round up of ideas for what to do with your images after you've taken them.

• Top Tips for Camera Memory and Storage. Get in the know about how best to protect, safe guard, and backup your digital photographs and files.

• What the ... White Balance? This break-through post explaining white balance, what it is, and how to make the most of it, is one of our top five popular posts of all time.

• Shoot the Moon with The Photographer's Ephemeris. Another popular post, this one explains how to capture amazing moon photographs by using The Photographer's Ephemeris to plan your shoot.

• Photographing Architecture - watch your lines! The focal length of your camera and the distance between yourself and your subject can cause various kinds of distortion in your images. Learn how to watch your horizontal and vertical lines for better architecture photographs.

• Capture a Day in a Single Image. Learn how to shoot a series of photographs over the course of a day and how to layer then together in Photoshop for a unique image depicting the entire day. Tips, advice, and Photoshop how to all included.

• Maximize Your Tripod. Get the most out of your tripod with these simple tips.

• Cheap and Easy Macro: Comparisons and Recommendations. This summary article provides a quick overview of the most common, inexpensive ways to capture macro photographs, along with links to all the detailed articles about each method. The final head-to-head comparison will help you decide which method(s) may work best for you.

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April on Boost Your Photography

A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography is a twice-monthly post rounding up all the great content available on BYP that has been published during this same time of year, across the years. It's a quick way to catch up on content you may have missed, including seasonal and time-sensitive photography tips and ideas.

• 5 Must-Read Articles on Food Photography. This great compilation post features five incredible articles about food photography that will help you with all stages of the process, from ideas, to set-up and styling, to shooting, to processing!

• GorillaPod Tripod Review. A GorillaPod is a specific type of travel tripod with flexible legs that allow you to pose and place it in many different locations. This post fully reviews my thoughts about my own GorillaPod and highlights common situations when a GorillaPod is an invaluable accessory!

• Theme and Photography. Find out why setting a particular theme is a great photography challenge to push yourself as a photographer.

• Best Flower & Macro Photography Advice. Great round-up post with five different articles chock-full of advice to improve your macro and flower photography.

• New Book Alert: Photos Framed. Read on for a review of this history-of-photography told through photographs book by Ruth Thomson.

• Make the Shot: droplet refraction. This super-easy technique creates amazing and mystifying photographs. All you need is a piece of glass or plastic, some water, and some colored paper ...

• Travel Photography without the Travel: going local. This post over at Digital Photography School points out how you can practice your travel photography without ever having to leave your home or neighborhood!

• Capture the Seasons: Rephotography. With Spring finally arriving, now is a great time to think about starting a seasonal series. This post offers useful suggestions for choosing an ideal location and making the commitment to return during the course of the year.

• Photography Inspiration: Found Book Poetry. Found book poetry is a truly fun way to create and photograph poems, using only the words on book spines. 

• Inexpensive Close-Up Photography: Extension Tubes. This third article in my guest post series on Photokonnexion covering inexpensive options for macro photography. Extension tubes move your camera lens farther away from your camera body, effectively enlarging the subject as recorded by your camera's sensor.

• Macro and Close-Up Photography: Tips and Tricks. This is the fourth and final article in my guest post series on Photokonnexion. It includes an overview of suggestions for depth of field, shooting macro with and without a tripod, and how to combine various methods to achieve super close-in photographic results.

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Mid-March on Boost Your Photography

A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography is a twice-monthly post rounding up all the great content available on BYP that has been published during this same time of year, across the years. It's a quick way to catch up on content you may have missed, including seasonal and time-sensitive photography tips and ideas.

• Time for a New Camera? Find out when an upgrade might be worth the investment.

• Finding the Perfect Camera for You. Ready to make the jump and upgrade your camera? Find out what questions you should be asking and check out our handy infographic comparing different types of cameras.

• Memory Card Disaster: what to do about broken, corrupt, or damaged memory cards. When disaster strikes, know your options!

• Product Review: Square Perfect Light Tent. This light tent kit is an easy way to take fantastic photographs of smaller objects, especially for product photography. A light tent is a must-have if you are trying to photograph objects for sale, such as on Etsy or eBay. This is a review of the light tent kit that I personally own and use.

• Series of Posts on Light Tent. This post is a quick overview to multiple posts about light tents both here, on Boost Your Photography, and guest posts of mine for Digital Photography School. Find out how to use a light tent properly, how to create a DIY version, and a direct head-to-head comparison between DIY and professional light tent kits.

• The Decisive Moment in Photography. The phrase "the decisive moment" has become well-worn in street photography, but read on to find out why it is an important idea to consider for all kinds of photography situations!

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March on Boost Your Photography

A Year Ago on Boost Your Photography is a twice-monthly post rounding up all the great content available on BYP that has been published during this same time of year, across the years. It's a quick way to catch up on content you may have missed, including seasonal and time-sensitive photography tips and ideas.

• 5 Tips to Keep Your Gear & Photos Safe. Learn how to keep your sensor clean, know your battery life, and more! 

• Avoid Memory Card Disaster: proper handling and care of memory cards. This post is a must-read to make sure that you never loose your precious photographs due to memory card error!

• Photography Inspiration: explore the mundane. March can be a month sorely lacking in photography inspiration, at least here in Wisconsin - winter is dragging on into a muddy mess. Find out why the "mundane" can make a great inspiration!

• Shutter Speed: an overview and visual reference: this popular post about shutter speed provides an overview of the various shutter speeds, as well as recommended situations for each. This advice is then collected in one easy-to-understand visual reference chart. A great place to start for understanding shutter speed!

• Tips to Improve Your Macro Photography: Last year we focused on "Macro March," and this post full of tips kicked off the month. Learn quick, practical advice for improving your macro and close-up photography shots.

• Product Review: close-up lenses: Close-Up Lenses are an inexpensive way to use the lens you already have for macro and close-up photography. This post provides a review of the Digital Concepts 58mm 4-Piece Multi-Coated Camera Lens Filter Set, which are the close-up lenses that personally use.

• Focus Stacking for Macro Photography: Focus stacking is an innovative post-processing technique for combining a series of macro or close-up photographs into one image with a much greater depth of field. This post will walk you through the basics to create incredible focus-stacked images.

• Macro Fakery: Background Creation: Find out a few simple tricks for backgrounds in your macro and close-up photography - includes behind-the-scenes wide shots.

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