Saturday, May 20, 2023

May's 2nd A Year Ago 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.

  • Light Painting: How to Spin an Orb. This article walks you step-by-step through the process of spinning and creating orbs with light painting. All you need is a bright LED light, a tripod for your camera, and a little bit of practice. You'll be surprised at how easy these are to do!
  • ISO Basics. Get the details you need about ISO and understand the impact of shooting with lower vs. higher ISO values.

    • Shutter Speed Guidelines. Do you know which shutter speeds to use in which situations? Need to know how best to freeze motion or to capture silky water? This quick overview of shutter speed guidelines (plus cheat sheet) has your answers.
      • Travel Photography Must Haves. Don't leave for your next summer trip without making sure you have all the travel photography supplies you need! This quick article will get you started with all the basics for bringing back home amazing travel photographs.
      • Be a Local Tourist: Photograph a Farmers' Market. Photography opportunities are all around you. Take a trip to your local Farmers' Market to discover a wealth of photographic options. Practice your street or travel photography, zoom in on some curious details, or just wait for inspiration to strike!
      • Remember the Background and Move Your Feet. This article focuses on an oft-forgot point of composition: the background. Rather than getting sucked into your subject, take the time to pay attention to the background and see how moving your motion or perspective can make an immediate impact.

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      Saturday, May 6, 2023

      May's A Year Ago 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.


      • Focus on Focus. An introduction to how to focus, including why to use a manual focus point, the difference in autofocus modes, and how and why to focus and recompose. 
      • Deciding Where to Focus. This follow-up post elaborates on the importance of knowing where to focus when shooting.

        • Rephotography: Dear Photograph. This rephotography project idea comes courtesy of the web site Dear Photograph. All you need is a set of older photographs and the time to return to the original location and match your your shot. Presto! (Read the full article for more details.)
        Why Won't My Lens Focus? | Boost Your Photography
        • Why Won't My Lens Focus?. This first article in our occasional series for beginners zeros in on some common focus problems and offers straightforward advice and suggestions for immediate correction.
        • Missed the Shot? Remember Camera Zero. This article covers the default settings (Camera Zero) that you should be using with your DSLR. Never miss a shot again by having your settings mixed up from your previous shooting.  Use Camera Zero, and you will always know your camera's settings!
        • Start a Series: from where I stand. This creative approach to selfies involves creating a collection of photographs where you include your feet for both context and scale. Read on for more ideas and inspiration!

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        Saturday, April 22, 2023

        April's 2nd A Year Ago 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 | Boost Your Photography

        • 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.


        • 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.
        • 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.
          • 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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          Saturday, April 8, 2023

          April's A Year Ago 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.
            • 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 ...


            • 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.
            • 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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            Saturday, March 18, 2023

            March's 2nd A Year Ago 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.


            • 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.
            • 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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            Saturday, March 4, 2023

            March's A Year Ago 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.


            • 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.

            • 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.
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            Saturday, February 11, 2023

            February's A Year Ago 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.


            • Black and White Book Club Week 2: Black and White Photography as Normality – still life, landscape, street, portrait, architecture, or journalism / documentary photography
            • Black and White Book Club Week 5: Putting it All Together – a final week to go back to your favorite or most challenging ideas or styles of black and white photography. You can also explore topics not covered in the weeks above, such as Grain or High ISO photographs, HDR, Tone Mapping, and Adding Tints.

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