Below The Surface

Explore the creative possibilities of underwater photography

Text & Photography By Elena Kalis

Ten years ago, seeking to extend my traditional art background, I picked up a camera and an underwater housing and started “playing in my backyard” with my young daughter as my model. I was also lucky to live nearby clear, warm water, and soon became fascinated by what I found. The spectacular effect of sunlight through water, the dreamlike... Read more

Bearing Witness

Sometimes photos aren’t enough to capture a moment. Photographer Jason Watts helps families document unique periods in their lives.

By Tracey Clark, With Jason Watts, Photography By Jason Watts

One morning in mid-August, as I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, a stunningly simple vintage-style portrait of a young boy caught my attention. The words written across the image, posted by photographer Jason Watts, read, “Bearing Witness.” That image and those words stirred my very soul. I was only two weeks away from traveling across the... Read more

Travel Lighter To Shoot Smarter

Fully mobile photography has changed the game for travel photographers—find out how it can make your shoots better, too

Text & Photography By DL Byron

For the entire history of photography, photographers have strived to make the process of capturing an image more portable and more instantaneous in order to help them take masterful photos, wherever they may go. The camera obscura (literally, “dark room”), the precursor to what we know as a camera, was actually a room with a pinhole in it. That’s... Read more

Focusing On Nature

What happens when a portrait photographer turns her eye to the discarded elements in her environment? Images of objects that feel like portraits.

Text & Photography By Jen Lemen

As a photographer, I’ve always been determined to find the kind of hope that illuminates a frame. My eye is trained to see tiny things—the impossible ray of light, the most subtle gesture, the glance that says it all. I love trying to capture the human spirit in my lens; I love even more the invitation to travel and see the world with new eyes.... Read more

Go With The Flow

Capture the silky water effect with these tips and tools

Text & Photography By Rick Sammon

John Lennon said, “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.” When it comes to your photography, it’s your imagination—your creativity—that makes you who you are. That’s very cool. One of the controls we can use to create our own photographic reality is the shutter speed setting on our cameras. With that simple control, we can alter time—by... Read more

Travel with A Purpose

Planning and focus can be the difference between amazing travel photos and a collection of dull snapshots

Text & Photography By Tom Bol

Have you ever sat through a friend’s vacation slideshow and dreaded every minute of it? Countless images of cluttered markets, busy landscapes and cliché snapshots blur into oblivion. You nod your head in a daze of encouragement, wanting to be polite, but after the last shot of the cute kid eating ice cream, you can’t take it anymore. If only your... Read more

Intro To Macro

Explore the fascinating world of close-up photography

Text & Photography By Damon Clarke

Imagine a land ruled by giant eight-eyed creatures the size of a car with long translucent fur, colorful stripes and purple iridescent fangs. Imagine a land where huge balls of glistening water fall from the sky and cling to every surface, magnifying and refracting sunlight, a land where you can explore flowers the size of a house with beds of pollen... Read more

Photo Exercise: Something You Collect

Every collection tells a story

Text & Photography By Alessandra Cave

There are numerous reasons why people collect objects. Some are interested in preserving memories and history, others are in search of the beautiful, odd and rare, and still others are motivated by value and investment. But despite the specifics, every collection tells a story about the collector and its contents, making collections fascinating subjects... Read more

Master The Meter

Improve your exposure accuracy with a handheld light meter

Text & Photography By William Sawalich

When the photography world made the switch from film to digital, one casualty of the conversion was the handheld light meter. Those LCDs on the backs of cameras made handheld meters (in the eyes of many, at least) obsolete. But in fact, there’s almost as much reason to use a handheld meter today as there ever was. For exposure accuracy and for... Read more

Photo Exercise: Afar

Leave room in the itinerary to wander off on your own

Text & Photography By Alessandra Cave

"I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world." —Mary Anne Radmacher While our daily photo practice is mainly focused on capturing the beauty that is nearby and in our everyday lives, there are times when we will take our cameras further out into the world. Photography can help us connect with other cultures,... Read more

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