[tweetmeme]A few weeks ago I was called upon to fill in as a real estate photographer. It’s something I’d never done before and with basic equipment I was a bit hesitant. Nevertheless I gave it a shot, and with a bit of experimentation I found a way to ‘fake’ having a wide-angle lens.

In this guide we’ll go through a makeshift method to taking wide-angle photographs with even the most basic equipment. In a few simple steps you can be taking incredibly spacious real estate photographs or expansive wide-angle panoramas with a standard camera and a stock lens.

1. Take 3 portrait photographs

This is probably my favourite ‘trick of the trade’, normally reserved for panoramic photography. Instead of taking one single landscape oriented photo, flip your camera to the portrait orientation and take three successive photographs just like below.

Indoors, this technique works remarkably well. With a normally oriented photograph you’d barely get the walls in the frame. In portrait though you’re extending your viewing angle by 50%, capturing the walls, roof, floor and everything between them.

Here are a few things to consider when taking these photographs:

Avoid clipping significant objects: If there’s a window beaming with light in your scene or a complex object, try to keep it all in the one frame. This way when you stitch your photos together you will have seamlessly blended edges.

Switch to manual to keep your exposure consistent: Having a consistent exposure will again allow your photos to be seamlessly blended together. The aim is for these photos to look like a single wide-angle photos, so if any join lines can be seen it will damage the effect.

2. Photomerge in Photoshop

You can use Photoshop to automatically stitch your three photographs together to create one seamless, well blended landscape photograph. To do this:

- Open up your three photographs in Photoshop

- File > Automate > Photomerge…

- Select the ‘Auto’ layout, click ‘Add open files’ (or browse for your photographs) and hit OK

Photoshop will tick away and stitch your photographs together and present you with an incredible wide angle photograph.

3. Crop and tweak!

Once the photomerge is complete, simply crop your photo into a landscape orientation. Most times the photomerge blends the photos together smoothly, but if not you can use the healing brush and stamp tool to remove defects and smooth out the joints.

Admittedly this method takes a little bit more effort than just fitting a lens and taking a photo. With this technique though you can capture incredibly wide-angled photographs with anything form a phone camera to an SLR. Better still, as you’re joining multiple photographs together, the resolution of your end photograph will be over double that of a single photograph.

Below are a few of the spacious real estate photographs I took using this technique. Feel free to share your own makeshift wide-angle shots or leave tips in the comments!

Photographer by Ferran

[tweetmeme]I’m always being asked for tips on photography and I often find myself answering with exactly the same tips. So below I’ve compiled five of my best tips to help any beginning photographer step up to the next level. They aren’t complicated or even that radical. They are five very simple ideas and qualities that every great photographer needs to follow.

If you have any tips of your own then please do share them in the comments or over on facebook or twitter!

1. Switch to P and say goodbye to Auto

This is the first thing I say to anyone who asks how to improve their photography. The truth is, on Auto mode a big fancy SLR will be no better than a point and shoot. P mode is still automated so taking a photo is still as easy as pressing a button. However this ‘Programmable’ mode provides you with the flexibility to adjust your white balance, your ISO, colour settings and a few exposure settings. Having this level of flexibility in a mode that is still automatic will allow you to optimise your camera for the environment so that the colours and exposures of your photo really help the photo pop. On Auto mode your photos are always out of your control but on P you can work with your camera to capture a photo, and that is the only way to improve.

2. Never use Auto White Balance

The name ‘Auto White Balance’ is deceptive. It’s not actually an ‘Automatic’ option. Your camera doesn’t choose it’s white balance settings depending on the environment. Instead, it maintains one single setting that is generic for the broadest range of lighting environments.
White light looks white to the eye, but to a camera the light from a light bulb and light from the sun is seen in a vastly different spectrum of colours. The camera then needs to know what environment you are shooting in so that it can accurately capture the colours. Otherwise your photo may be too yellow, too blue or too dull. Auto White Balance will always appear too grey. Vibrancy is lost on Auto mode because it’s the safest way for your camera to read any lighting environment. All you have to do is change your white balance and you’ll instantly notice that the colours of your photo come to life.

3. Go out specifically to take photos

Make an event of going out to take photos, rather than just take your camera with you to places. Keep an eye out for landscapes or scenes you’d like to photograph and dedicate an hour or two to exploring the scene. If you focus entirely on taking great photos and switch between a few modes in the process, you’ll develop immensely as a photographer and capture some stunning results in the process.

4. Explore the Wonders of Glass

One of the best ways to step up as a photographer is to invest in the world of filters and lenses. A polarised or an ND filter can allow you to play around with the light that goes through your lens, capturing crisper colours or long exposures in bright conditions. A macro or a prime lens (that being a lens with no zoom but with a stunning aperture) will allow you to explore new categories and styles of photography, or simply unlock more of your camera’s potential. Lenses and filters cost money, but they’re worthwhile investments if you’re eager to explore the world of photography.

5. Learn to Love Critique

Sharing your work and asking questions is one of the best ways to improve your knowledge of photography. You’d be amazed how much knowledge there is out there and how many people can help! The PhotoGuides forums are designed to help you out and answer your questions so head over there anytime to share your work and let photographers around the world lend you a helping hand.

Top Tips from Twitter:

@suzanbond suggests photographing in black and white to train your eye around lighting and composition.
@brendazzle recommends photographing every day and each time focusing on one different technique or aspect of photography.
@lynoth suggests reviewing your photos after every shoot and taking note of specific things that need improvement.

Hopefully these tips help you out. If you have any of your own then please do share them in the comments or over on facebook or twitter.
Otherwise, good luck!

[tweetmeme]Today I’m very excited to announce the launch of the PhotoGuides Forum. It’s an addition that I’m hoping will revolutionise PhotoGuides, but we need your help to make it work!

For the past two years PhotoGuides has been well renowned as a website for photography and photoshop tutorials. We’ve shared content with over a million people in 200 different countries and received much love in return.

Today though PhotoGuides is transforming from a simple website into an online community, where photographers and designers can meet each other, share feedback, ideas, ask questions and simply discuss their passions.

Launching a forum is tricky. People really need to kick start the action and get the content rolling. I’m very pleased to say though that if you are a PhotoGuides Member your forum account is already live and running.

To make this forum work though, we really need your help. All that we ask is that you get involved, start great threads, ask great questions, share cool stuff and leave great comments. We need your help to get the discussions rolling!

As an added incentive there’s a competition running alongside the launch where you can win a Kodak mini camcorder or some PhotoGuides Books. Check the competition out over here.

That’s all for now though. I really hope you like the forum and I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can either comment below or jump over to the Forum Suggestions thread to leave feedback or new ideas for the forum. Thanks guys and enjoy!

Enough talk, take me to the forum! >

[tweetmeme]In Apple’s recent iCloud and iOS5 keynote, a vast array of brushed aluminium style icons were used. In this tutorial we learn how to create an incredible iCloud style aluminium icon in just a few minutes.

It’s been a real rush to launch this episode (these video tutorials aren’t quick to make!) but I’m very excited to be able to offer the first full tutorial for creating these icons with a freshly pioneered method. You saw it here on PhotoGuides first!

Better still, the tutorial is versatile enough to allow you to create these aluminium icons with any logo or text embedded, and you’ll hopefully be able to adapt the brushed aluminium methods for use in other images.

As always, PhotoGuides members can download the high definition version of this tutorial and the Photoshop source files. And of course, it is free to join!

To complete this tutorial, you’ll also need to download the iCloud logo file (right click, save as).

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Otherwise I hope you enjoy the tutorial and stay tuned for more!

Road to No Regret by Philippe Sainte-Laudy

Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir

Chambored Dream by Philippe Sainte-Laudy

Reflections by camil tulcan

The World Unseen by My Reality

Flower and Drop by 5348 Franco

Praha Reflection by O-Renzo

Reflection by awwXsugar

Eiffel Puddle Reflection by tyt2000

A Reflection of a Reflection by raun

Reflection by MichelRajkovic

Reflection by ilva-R

Buttermere Reflection by scotto

Reflection of my Soul by 3DD13M14M1

Reflection Subjection by kelc

Reflections of You and Me by tynaS

Reflection by Citrusfrukt

Loving in Reflection by rave250

Reflections for the Day by Dene’ (Seattle) Miles

Reflections by jeremi12

Reflection by iQayed

Reflection Kiss by Firenzesca

Beaches Winter Sidewalk Reflection

Ice Lakes Basin Reflection by Jack Brauer

[tweetmeme]Histograms are a graphic representation of the levels of light in your photo. They’re a great tool for understanding just how the light in your photo is balanced and can help you to create the perfectly exposed and balanced photograph.

To see just how histograms display colour and light information we will dissect the histogram below which represents the light tones of the image above.

The most common type of histogram illustrates black and white tones, but it is not uncommon to see a histogram that separates an image into it’s core colours as well. To understand the black and white histogram above we must first imagine that the image at the top is desaturated and presented in black and white.

The horizontal axis represents the dark and light tones and the vertical axes shows what portion of the image holds that particular tone. The photograph above is evidently dark and the top and bottom of the image hold a lot of black shadows. On the histogram we can see that there is a peak on the far left which indicates that those dark shadows are the most prominent tones in the image. Contrastingly, on the far right of the histogram we can see that there are minimal highlights. This again can be seen in the photograph as there are no significant white points.

Due to it’s significant shadows this photograph would be regarded as underexposed. A correctly exposed photo will have the majority of the histogram in the ‘Midtones’ section and be evenly spread throughout the graph.

Histograms can be a very handy tool when you’re trying to balance the exposure of your photo. Just remember that it should only be used as a guide and sometimes the eye serves as a better judge.

Lion by safari-partners

[tweetmeme]Animals can be an incredible photography subject. Everything from the sleekest of birds through to the tallest of giraffes can present you with the most stunning photo opportunities. Due to their unpredictable nature though, animals (especially the exotic sort) can be incredibly hard to photograph. Here are a few tips to help you out whether you’re on a safari or in your own backyard.

1. Capture Life.

Photographs of cats and dogs sleeping are incredibly common. The photos that really stand out are of the animals in their element, playing, running or whatever action defines their species. If you are photographing a dog, take it outside and play with it. Or if you’re photographing a lion, try to capture it roaring.

2. Capture the Expressions that would Embarrass a Human.

Some of the best animal photos capture an obscure look or an inquisitive stare. Focus on the animal and then as soon as it opens its mouth to yawn or turns its head to scratch, start snapping away. By looking for unusual expressions you can capture a unique photograph every time, and more often than not they’ll be interesting.

3. Late Afternoon is the Best Time for Safari.

Animals can be lazy sometimes. I’ve found that exotic animals in game parks spend most of their time in the shade. Between 3pm and 5pm though are two golden hours. Wild animals tend to be most active at this time and the sun is also in its optimum position – It’s to the side casting a warm glow right across the land.

4. They’re More than just a Pretty Face.

They have feet too, and sometimes wings and tails. Look beyond the face of an animal and you might find beautiful textures or hidden patterns, like the feathers on a birds wings, the scales on a reptile or the spots on the back of a leopard.

Giraffe Pattern by PsiberTek Photography

5. If you’re on Safari, you’ll need a Monopod.

Monopods are tripods with a single leg. They act as a pivot point for your camera, and when you’re on Safari this steadiness and maneuverability can be a life saver.

6. Don’t just take Photos of Animals.

Look around you and see what else your scene offers. Try to incorporate the animals surroundings into the photo. If a dog is resting under a tree, stand back and include the tree as well. Or if there’s a stunning horizon or a sunset, try to photograph this with the animal. Use the animal to compliment a beautiful landscape photograph. They don’t always have to be the main focus.

7. Zoom Zoom Zoom.

Sadly, on Safari, you aren’t allowed to pat the lions. Sometimes the best view you can get of an animal is from 50 meters away. If you’ve got a zoom lens or a camera with high zoom capabilities then you’re in luck. If you haven’t then your only option is to jump out of the car and walk up to the lions for a closer look.

8. Savor the Sights. Use your Eyes as well.

Safari expeditions present you with some astounding sights. Just make sure you don’t see it all through your viewfinder. By all means photograph the experience to your hearts content, but be sure to appreciate the sheer beauty of these animals.

All this and more in The PhotoGuides Guide to Photography

‘Photographer’ by jj8rock

[tweetmeme]A new year is in the loom and throughout the world people are deciding what they want to change for the year ahead. So what should us photographers aim to change? Here are 10 resolutions that can help us all become better photographers in 2011.

1. Never use Auto mode.

One of the first steps involved in improving your photography is taking control of your camera. P mode is great as it automatically controls your exposure but it lets you meddle with white balance, ISO and a great range of other options that can help bring your photos to life. In 2011 I will never use Auto mode.

2.  Shoot more in RAW

I personally believe there is a time and a place for RAW. Lately though, I’ve been neglecting the format. RAW is an uncompressed file format that retains all of your photos information. As a result you can continue to adjust white balance and other camera options when you’re back at your computer, and your photo retains details that otherwise would have been lost in JPEG. In 2011 I want to shoot in RAW more often.

3. Take control of your flash.

Your camera’s built in flash can be a bit unkind sometimes. On Auto Flash mode the burst of light can drain the colour and vibrancy from your photo. Most camera’s these days have multiple flash modes that can help you to use your flash creatively. In 2011, if I’m ever using flash, I’ll consider what flash mode will best do the job and switch it off auto.

4. Take your camera with you more often.

I’m often complaining about the size of my camera. It’s too big and heavy to lug around sometimes, and I often opt for a small point and shoot when I’m on the move because it’s more portable. In 2011, if I’m ever going anywhere even slightly interesting, I’ll take my camera with me. It may be a hassle at times but I’m sure the photos will make up for it.

5. Shoot more in the rain.

I think photographing in the rain has a great deal of potential. Usually people are scared off by the rain and tend not to use their cameras in fear of getting them wet. Heck, most sane people avoid even getting themselves wet. This though means that the world in the rain is an unseen world. Grab a raincoat and a plastic bag or some other form of camera protection, head out in the rain and see what you can capture. In 2011 I won’t let a storm scare me off. I’ll head out and photograph the sights that people wouldn’t normally see.

6. Never use the camera’s Black and White mode.

If you select the black and white mode on your camera, your camera simply desaturates your image and discards colour information. Typically, the end result is a flat image. If you want stunning black and white photographs you need to photograph in colour and then play around with the colours in photoshop or Lightroom. Here you have an astonishing amount of control with your black and white transformation because it retains colour information. This means that if you want the sky to stand out in your black and white photo, by adjusting the hue or saturation of the blues in your photo you can make your sky pop. The photograph will still be black and white but these programs remember your colours to give you full control over lighting, shade and the texture of your subject. In 2011 I will never use the camera’s black and white mode, and I’ll do it all myself in Photoshop or Lightroom.

7. Develop a photography series.

Pick a subject or topic, get out there and create an amazing collection. It could be bikes in the city, people’s hands, the contents of people’s handbags or some other idea I haven’t thought of. A photography series can be a great thing to share and look at, as well as a fascinating insight into the abstract qualities of life. In 2011, I’m going to pick a different, fascinating subject and photograph the hell out of it.

8. Stop the car.

Every now and then while driving along I spot a stunning landscape that just begs to be photographed. I always think ‘that would make a great photo’ but I never stopped for a closer look. In 2011 I’ll be sure to stop at any opportunity, get out of the car and photograph that stunning landscape. Don’t let these opportunities pass you buy.

9. Use filters.

Filters really can transform your photos. Whether it’s a polarised filter or an ND filter, putting another piece of glass in front of your lens can provide you with a world of new opportunities and some pretty stunning results. PhotoGuides can of course tell you all about the three essential filters. In 2011 I’ll invest in ND filters and other sorts as well, and I’ll see just what filters can do for my photos.

10. Don’t forget the people.

As a landscape photography enthusiast it’s often easy to ignore the people and go for the stunning scenes. In 2011 I’m going to try and take more photos of the important people in my life. Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing, great photos of people are always the ones you’ll cherish and remember. If there’s one resolution that we all take on board, I think it should be this one.

Happy new year everyone! What are your new years resolutions for photography? Feel free to share them in the comments below.

[tweetmeme]Traditionally, a camera’s flash is used to artificially fill a scene with light to allow for a brighter photo in certain situations. Most cameras though have multiple flash modes that allow you to use your flash creatively.

Auto Flash:

Auto flash will simply activate the flash based on whether or not the camera requires additional light to capture a well exposed photograph. Auto flash can be quite limiting as the burst of light can drain the natural colours of your photo and create unwanted shadows. It’s best then to consider the other flash options to ensure you still get the best out of your photo.

Fill In Flash:

Fill In Flash is useful in bright daytime situations such as when you’re outdoors and your subject is heavily backlit. If the scene’s ambient light is overpowering your subject causing it to appear dark, or if your subject is simply stuck in the shadows and your camera isn’t responding to the lack of light due to the bright environment behind it, Fill In Flash can be used to throw light onto your subject thereby balancing the exposures of your subject and the surrounding light.

Slow Sync Flash:

Slow Sync Flash is useful in low light situations, such as at a party, where you want to capture your subject but retain the scenes natural colour and vibrancy. With Slow Sync Flash, a slow shutter speed will still be used by the camera, but a burst of flash will typically occur at the start of the photo to illuminate the scene. This initial burst of flash can usually freeze your subject in still form, but by retaining the longer shutter speed, background lighting and the true colours of the scene still have the time to be captured by your camera. Slow Sync Flash is perfect for retaining the character and life of a shot in low light situations.

Red Eye Reduction Flash:

Red Eye Reduction Flash consists of a quick burst of flash prior to the photograph to prepare your subjects eyes, followed by a normal flash during the photo. This helps to eliminate the ‘Red Eye’ effect most flashes create.

[tweetmeme]A simple leaf holds a great deal of photographic potential. Photographing leaves is an amazing way to meddle with lighting, composition and the world of macro photography. Here’s how to try it for yourself.

What you need:

• A camera with a macro lens or a reasonable wide angle lens. Macro is preferable,
 but you can still zoom in and crop with a normal lens.
• Some leaves. Look for leaves with an interesting texture, nice patterns or 
 interesting colours.
• Some sticky tape.
• A window and some sunshine.
• A tripod (Optional, but it can be handy).
• A sprayable water container (Again, optional, but it can create a nice effect).

The Setup:

• Sticky tape the leaf to a window that is exposed to the sun. Try and use the tape
 to expand the leaf so that it is flat against the surface of the window. This isn’t 
 essential, but it can really help with capturing the leaf’s symmetry.
• Use an aperture of around F8. This will allow sufficient light to enter the lens 
 and the broader depth of field will ensure that all of the leaf is in focus.
• Use an ISO of around 200-400. If the shutter speed in this range is too slow and a
 blurred photo is the result, use your tripod. Otherwise try and photograph 
 freehand as this allows you to experiment with angles and composition.
• For added excellence, spray some water onto the leaf.

Photographing Leaves:

Photographing leaves is remarkably simple. With this setup the light through the window will expose the texture, colours and hidden veins within the leaf.

Play with symmetry and patterns in your composition. You can always crop your photo in the post processing phase to perfect the composition you’re trying to create. While you’re at it, fiddle with the ‘hue’ and colours of the leaf as well as the black and white levels to highlight the lines and textures of the leaf.

If photoshop isn’t your thing though then don’t worry. When taking your photo you can experiment with different exposures and your white balance to capture the leaf’s colours and textures in their most stunning form.

All this and more in the PhotoGuides Book >

[tweetmeme]It’s taken 4 months of casual, procrastination filled work, but the PhotoGuides book is finally here.

The PhotoGuides Guide to Photography is a complete guide for the beginner photographer. It’s filled with a full range of beginner photography guides, an extensive selection of tips and tricks, and some cool techniques to help you get the best out of your camera.

This guide is simple, concise, and highly visual. Every guide has full page photographs to help put each concept into context. This book as been designed to provide you with all of the knowledge you need about photography, and then a broad range of skills and tips to allow you to exercise your knowledge and understand, not just why your camera acts in certain ways, but also how to utilise your camera in certain situations to capture the most amazing photographs.

It’s a reasonably small book, but it’s full of information. Furthermore everything’s been written especially for the book. Nothing has been copied from the website and instead it’s all been rewritten and restructured so that the book flows and acts as a succinct guide.

The PhotoGuides Guide to Photography is a limited run and is only available for purchasing until December the 6th. After this date, I’ll collate the orders, have the books printed and then shipped in time for christmas. It’s the perfect guide for the beginner photographer and a great gift for anyone who’s looking to learn.

Also, if you’re a photography teacher and you’re interested in the book, I’d love to hear from you.

[tweetmeme]Camera Toss Photography is an amazing new trend that captures light in its most abstract form. As the name suggests, it involves throwing your camera in the air while taking a photo. Here’s what to consider when trying it out for yourself.

• A camera with the ability to adjust the Shutter Speed and Aperture.
• A hint of bravery and a quality catch.
• A dark room or some night time.

• Set the shutter speed to around 1 second.
• Set the camera’s Aperture to around F5.6.
• Find some lights. 1 to 3 lights work best as they leave you with a nice simple
 photograph. Also, these lights should be evenly spaced. If there are too many lights or if they are unevenly spaced you could end up with a cluttered, messy photo. Mounting a few christmas lights to the roof works well.

There are a few different ways to throw your camera. Spinning, as the name suggests, involves spinning your camera in a clockwise or anti clockwise motion to create a beautiful spiral pattern with the lights. Flipping involves flipping your camera end over end either forwards or backwards. The third method is a combination of spinning and flipping whereby your camera is tossed in a random fashion. This type of throw creates the most abstract shapes, but the simple, uniform nature of flipping and spinning can also produce stunning results.

If you find that the lights are not bright enough, simply increase the size of your aperture.

Camera Toss Photography can produce some stunning results. Experiment with different colours of light, or be creative in your throwing method. It’s a simple concept to grasp, just make sure you don’t drop your camera.

All this and more in the PhotoGuides Book >

[tweetmeme]It’s been a fairly intense month, but I’m pleased to say that I’ve now finished my exams thereby completing my high school education. More importantly though, it’s good to be back and finally have some time to spend on PhotoGuides.

I’m pretty happy with how it all went. I did everything I could do, so fingers crossed my marks reflect it and I get the score I need.

So what lies on ‘the road ahead’? Well, I’ve got a few future plans for PhotoGuides that I’ll probably be revealing and putting into action over the next few weeks. One of them’s a book. It’s already finished and ready for publishing, but you’ll be hearing more about that later, hopefully well before christmas.

Finally, I’d like to give a huge thanks to everyone for all the kind good luck messages I’ve received on twitter and on PhotoGuides. You’re all awesome

Anyway, I’m off to bed. It’s about 20 days past my bedtime.

[tweetmeme] As I write this I’ve been awake for over 42 hours, and needless to say I’m a little bit tired. Over the past two days my life has taken on the biggest transformation that I could ever have imagined. I’ve had my last day of school, had my ‘muck up day’, and as of a few hours ago I have graduated from High School. It’s been the biggest transition of my life and it seems that I’m too tired to quite realise it.

The past week’s really been a bit of a blur. School’s been so intense with practice exams and essays due in every single day. Every teacher’s been imploring us students to prioritise their subject by overloading us with handouts and giving us cheesy pep talks about how to manage our time and motivate ourselves for the weeks ahead.

42 hours ago I woke up and prepared myself for my last ever day of school. It really was a great day. There was a distinct smell of ‘sharpies’ in the air as everyone rushed about writing obscene comments and sketching phallic images on everyone’s shirts. Sure we’re in year 12, but we’re still immensely childish. Every bell that day was followed by cheers and tears as we crossed off another lesson but slowly came closer to the rather frightening end. When the final bell rang at the end of the day, everyone looked a bit puzzled. It was a strange moment. We’d been thinking about that moment for probably 13 years, but to actually be standing there having completed the entire schooling system was so outrageous that emotionally, no one had any idea how to respond. It was kind of funny.

The last ever media class. In hindsight, it was a pretty sad moment.

That night was a ‘Muck Up Day’ party. After school most people went home for a quick nap. I however didn’t, because I had editing to do. For the past two weeks I’d been working on a video for my entire class. It was my gift to them – a story of our entire year 12 experience that followed a day in the life of a student – and I had to add the finishing touches before it would be screened at the year 12 assembly the following day. Thankfully I got it all finished on time, and it was received at the assembly better than I could ever have hoped for. I’ll post it on PhotoGuides eventually.

The party that night was great fun. Never before had our entire year level been together in that sort of social scene. It was a bit of fun to see our social segregations fade away over the course of the night. Anyway, because we’re young and exuberant, we all thought it would be a fantastic idea if we stayed up the whole night. I loved this idea and jumped on board the all-nighter bandwagon by drinking a few red bulls. Shortly afterwards, everyone decided that not sleeping was indeed a stupid idea. Everyone then went to bed, including me, but for some strange reason I became full of energy and couldn’t sleep.

This is me at the party pretending I know how to rap.

The next morning was a morning to remember. I’m not sure how global the Muck Up Day is, but here in Australia it’s basically a day where we all dress up in strange costumes and spend our day at the school being as mischievous as the principal lets us be. I dressed as peter pan because it turns out I look a bit like him, and spent my morning creating an obstacle course and slalom at the school’s entrance out of toilet paper and bins. The groundskeeper wasn’t overly happy, but he still had to drive through it to get to us.

Long story short, our Muck Up Day was a heap of fun. We made a pyramid of chairs in the centre of the oval, trashed the year 11′s common room, provided the whole school with a superb year 12 farewell assembly, and then spent the rest of the afternoon either sleeping on the grass or touring the school on scooters whilst laughing at people in classes.

The Year 11 common room. I think we did a fairly good job.

That night was our Valedictory dinner. In essence, this was our graduation. The night really was outstanding. The highlight was a phenomenal speech from our school captain who in his speech epitomised everything our year level meant to us, and gave us a great overview of the road ahead. We then ate food, took photos, received our graduation gift from the school, and here I am now.

It’s currently 1:30am and I’ve been awake for 42 hours. But don’t worry, I’ll go to bed soon.

As soon as I wake up tomorrow, probably tomorrow afternoon, I’m throwing my head in the books and going to town on those pens, studying my little heart away for the slightly important end of year exams. Six exams lie ahead for five different subjects. The exam scores and marks from coursework from throughout the year are then crunched together to leave me with a single four digit number. This ATAR score will define what university courses I’m allowed into, will probably be used to gain an advantage in job interviews, and will hopefully be used in many arguments to assert my intelligence and therefore correct point of view.

My golden date is November 15th. At 5:15pm I walk out of a large room and enter what has been described to me as ‘the real world’. At that time on that day I end my involvement with 13 years of schooling and enter a new chapter in my life. I say goodbye to lunchtimes, assemblies and mentor groups, and hello to degrees and an actual career.

In the meantime thought, I sort of have to say goodbye to PhotoGuides. This year I’ve been trying my hardest to post regularly, but it has been difficult with school commitments. These next few weeks though are serious so I really shouldn’t be touching the website at all.

So I guess I’ll be talking with you all later. Wish me luck!

[tweetmeme]Firstly, thank you everyone for the amazing entries. I really have been blown away by the quality of some photographs as well as the stories behind them. There can only be one winner though, and I think one particular photograph is very deserving of the Photography theme from The Theme Foundry.

Congratulations to Dirk Schlottmann for his photo ‘Living on an Island’. This photo, which is shown above, really has an inspiring, inquisitive story behind it, which is why feel it’s worthy of the prize. Here’s what Dirk wrote about his photograph:

This is one of my favorite shots, because I had the impression, that the man in the wheelchair was really thinking about “life” when he was looking at this little island.
The picture was taken in Southkorea (at the eastcoast)

Dirk, I’ll be in contact with you shortly to send you your theme.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their favourite photographs. I had a lot of fun going through them and seeing all the smiles, the moments and the astounding scenes. Also, a big thanks goes out to Drew Strojny from The Theme Foundry for offering his stunning Photography theme.

So Dirk, I hope you enjoy the theme. And for everyone else, thanks for your entries and keep an eye out for the next PhotoGuides competition.

[tweetmeme]Tilt Shift is an incredible lens effect that transforms normal scenes into tiny toy worlds. It’s a topic that’s already been shown extensively here on PhotoGuides with tilt shift collections and photoshop tutorials, but these new examples take on a new level of amazingness.

ArtCyclopedia has created an astonishing range of Tilt Shift photographs which apply the effect to some of Van Gogh’s famous paintings. The results really are stunning. Check them out.

This competition is closed. Check out the winning entry over here.

[tweetmeme]Share your favourite photo and you could win this stunning WordPress Photography theme courtesy of The Theme Foundry. It’s a beautiful theme designed to showcase your photography with elegant galleries, a blog and rich large images right across the website.

‘Photography’ holds a very simple design, but it’s an incredibly capable theme. Image galleries are fully integrated with your WordPress Galleries, and you can even directly link your theme to Flickr to automatically share your photographs. ‘Photography’ is normally valued at $68, but I’ve got one free copy to give away.
Be sure to check out the live demo.

Here’s how to enter.

Step 1: Find your favourite photo. This should be one you’ve taken yourself.

Step 2: Share it with PhotoGuides by linking to it in the comments below. Also tell us why it’s your favourite photo.

Step 3: Tweet or Facebook the competition to double your chances.

Here are some more details.

All of the photos will then be reviewed and the winner will be chosen based on which photo I like the most. I won’t be looking for the photo that’s technically perfect. I’ll be looking for my favourite and reading your explanations to see which photograph I feel deserves to win.

The competition will close in two weeks on Saturday October 16th, and I’ll announce the winner shortly afterwards. I’ll also share a few of my favourite entries here on PhotoGuides. I’ll then be in contact with you to send you your theme.

Good luck, and I look forward to seeing your favourite photographs!

[tweetmeme]Photographing people and portraits is one of the greatest challenges in photography. People have a tendency to dislike photographs of themselves, so you need to make it your mission to photograph people on their best side in their best light whist still showing their true personality. Here are a few tips to help you out.


When you photograph people and use a shallow depth of field, they are almost separated from their background. This effect looks astounding in portrait photography, so be sure to use a wide aperture such as F2.8 to create this shallow depth of field.


The eyes are what everyone looks at. When photographing people, be sure to focus on their eyes. That way, when people look back at the photo they will see people’s eyes as crisply as they would expect in real life.

Candid Photography refers to photographs which are taken informally without the person knowing about them. When people have a camera in their face, they tend to put on a fake photo-smile or they act differently. By being unobtrusive you can capture the true side of a person.

Candid Photography isn’t always the best thing to do. Sometimes you capture a person’s true side when you interact with them and play with the camera. If you’re photographing children then getting involved is the best thing to do. Interact with them and let them play with the camera. They’ll smile, they’ll laugh and your photos will capture genuine happiness. Older people can also be immensely childish when there’s a camera in their face. Make them laugh and tease them with the camera. Every now and then you’ll come across a gem of a photo which captures the true side of a person like nothing else.


When you zoom in the depth of field is highly amplified. This will allow you to create photographs with astonishingly shallow depths of field. Also, standing back and zooming in will allow you to capture properly candid photographs. If they can’t see you they won’t be distracted by the camera, so you’ll capture photographs that reflect their true personality.



Just don’t do it. Standard flashes are not flattering. It’s like throwing a ball of light at someone’s face. Blemishes show up, skin can look rough and you’re often left with sharp and unnatural shadows. Furthermore due to the excessive light being thrown onto your subject, the background can be left unnaturally dark. I accept that using the standard flash is sometimes a necessity such as when you’re at a function or in a dark room. If you don’t need the flash though then don’t use it. Your subject will thank you for it.



Studio photographers can spend thousands of dollars on flash equipment that casts soft even light on their subject. In the shade, nature tends to do all this for you. If you’re outdoors then you’ll find that softly shaded areas provide you with the best lighting. You may also find this to be the case indoors.

Where a person is standing or what a person is doing can add new dimensions to the photograph. If you’re photographing the locals in a different culture, try to capture the environment around them in the photograph. Also look to capture the colours and the feel of the environment. If the background is dark and gloomy, work with the settings to capture a dark and gloomy photograph.



This is a term I’ve coined myself, and it’s one of my favorite things to do. If you’re at an event and you’ve got a camera, more often than not people will ask you to take a picture of them and their friends. They will then proceed to stand awkwardly and put on fake smiles. I find that some of the best photographs come from when they’re preparing for their photo. Start snapping early and you’re likely to capture them laughing and talking in their true element.



Don’t discard a photo if the lighting or composition isn’t perfect. People photography is all about the smiles, the character and the relationships. If you’ve captured this, keep it.

[tweetmeme]Black and White photography has the incredible ability to reveal things that would otherwise be lost in colour. These photos can share emotions or reveal abstractions in the world that normally go unnoticed. Here are a few tips to help you get the best out of your black and white photography.

1. Think in Black and White.


Colours aside, black and white photographs are generally very different to colour photographs. In order to take a successful B&W photograph it helps to think in black and white. Be on the look out for different angles and different views that capture the shapes, textures and other elements of a photograph that would be lost in colour.

2. Texture, Patterns, Lines and Shapes look lovely.


By taking the colour out of a photo we are accentuating features that otherwise would be ignored. The most incredible black and white photographs focus on an objects texture, or the abstraction of the lines that flow throughout it. Wrinkles on a person’s face for instance can appear beautiful in black and white. Aim to take a photo that reveals and boasts these fine details.

3. Photograph in Colour.


Don’t limit yourself by photographing with the Black and White setting. This setting will tend to just desaturate your photo, and a simple discarding of colour will often cause your photo to appear flat. Retaining the colour information with your photo gives you a great deal of potential through the editing process. It will allow you to adjust the shades and intensities of individual colours. For example, if there is a sky in your photo, you can adjust the blues to have a high level of contrast. The resulting strength of the sky in your black and white photo can be stunning. Photographing in colour gives you full control, and also gives you a backup incase the black and white version doesn’t work out quite like you’d hoped.



4. Photograph in RAW.

RAW is an uncompressed and lossless photo format. By retaining all of the information that the camera detects, we can manipulate the fine details in the editing process. Shooting in RAW can give us more potential, as well as more control over our photo.

5. Photograph Emotion.

Black and White has an incredible power to reveal emotion. Love, loss, pain or the simple wisdom of age can be expressed with incredible power in black and white. In particular, portraits can take on new dimensions in black and white and can reveal a hidden character of a person that is otherwise lost in colour.

6. Poor Lighting is Great!



If it’s overcast or if the sun’s hiding, start to think in black and white. Lighting with high contrast is perfect for black and white photography because it reveals those powerful textures. In black and white, this poor lighting can stand out and really give your photo a third dimension.

7. Use a Low ISO.



If you use a high ISO then the noise can leave your photo with an unwanted grain. This noise can be far more obvious when you discard the photos colour. Whilst this film-like grain can be nice, you’re better off adding this grain in the editing phase. Going for the lower ISO will give you a smoother image and the option as to what kind of photo texture you’d like.

[tweetmeme]If you’re working with an SLR or a high end point and shoot camera, it’s likely that you’ll have the ability to use filters. Filters are additional pieces of glass or plastic that are placed over the lens to achieve certain effects or modify the light entering the lens. Here are the three most common types of filters that are essential tools for any photographer looking to excel.

Ultraviolet Filters:

As the name suggests, a UV filter will block ultraviolet light from entering the lens. Ultraviolet light is not visible to the human eye, but can cause a slight haze in your photos in some bright conditions. The effect of a UV filter is barely noticeable though, and the use of a low quality UV filter may harm your photos contrast, increase lens flair or add a slight colour tint. Using a Multicoated UV filter is the best way to avoid reduction in image quality. Above all, UV filters are mainly used to protect your lens. Having a UV filter over your cameras lens is a great way to keep it safe and scratch free.

Polarized Filters:

Polarized filters use polarized glass to eliminate glare and reflected light. The result of this is a crisper photo with higher colour saturation, sharper colours and, most prominent of all, a deeper blue of the sky. A polarized filter is an essential tool for a landscape or outdoor photographer due to the vibrancy it adds to a photo. If you’re interested, be sure to get a circular polarized filter as a linear filter won’t work on a modern digital camera. A polarized filter is one of the best things you can buy for your camera.

Neutral Density Filters:

A Neutral Density or ND filter effectively acts like a pair of sunglasses for your camera. They’re used to reduce the amount of light passing through your lens. This means you can use longer exposures in daylight conditions. An ND filter will allow you to capture silky smooth water, use a shallow depth of field or capture the motion of an object, even in bright conditions. It’s not wise to use one of these filters permanently though, as they can reduce the saturation of your photo.

There are many different levels of ND filters, all of which hold a different level of darkness. Typically, the title of the filter will denote the fraction of light allowed through by the filter. For example, an ND 64 filter is a strong, dark filter than allows just 1/64th of the light through. An ND 4 filter however is a weaker filter that cuts out all but 1/4 of the the light. ND filters aren’t an essential photographic item, but they’re a great tool for the experienced photographer who likes to photograph waterfalls or capture other forms of motion.