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35 Examples Of Stunning Macro Photography

Macro photography is also known as close-up photography. Compared to other types of photography, macro photography is quite difficult, because of the nifty equipment, lightning and other techniques involved. However, in the end it comes down to what kind of pictures you want to take and what level of precision you are striving for.

In this inspirational showcase, we've collected some beautiful macro pictures, as well as some useful macro photography tutorials – for people at all levels of experience.

You may also be interested in the following related posts:

• 25 Beautiful Macro Photography Shots
  

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Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Silhouette photography is a wonderful way to convey drama, mystery, emotion and mood in a picture. A silhouette is defined as a view of an object or a scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Pictures like these often don’t convey a clear story, and leave part of the image up to the imagination of the viewer.

The key to taking a silhouette picture would be to: choose a strong subject with a defined and recognizable shape; turn off your flash to have as little light on the front of your subject as possible; get the light right by having more light shining from the background than the foreground; frame your image so that the brightest light source is behind your subject; and make sure the silhouette shapes are distinct and uncluttered by making subjects recognizable and keeping multiple subjects separate.

Below are some truly amazing examples of silhouette photography. All images are linked to the respective photographer’s websites. Feel free to explore more of their work. Enjoy and be inspired.

You may want to take a look at the following related posts:

• Oversaturated Pictures and Lomography
• Shadow Photography
• The Beauty Of Urban Decay
• City Photography

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50 Incredible Photography Techniques and Tutorials

Over the recent months we've been presenting various showcases of photography – while many readers hated the showcases, most readers found them inspirational and perfect for a lousy workday's morning. However, what we should have done in the inspirational posts is not just provide you with some inspiration for your work, but also present useful photographic techniques which can help you to achieve optimal pictures for your designs. And as requested by many of you, now it's time to correct our mistake.

In this post we present useful photographic techniques, tutorials and resources for various kinds of photography. You'll learn how to set up the perfect environment and what techniques, principles and rules of thumbs you should consider when shooting your next perfect photo. This round-up isn't supposed to be the ultimate one – please feel free to suggest more useful articles in the comments to this post.

Among other things, we cover high-speed photography, tilt-shift photography, black and white photography, motion blur, infrared, night, smoke photography, macro photography, HDR, panoramic photography, RAW processing and others. Hopefully, you'll find many of the listed tutorials and how-tos useful for your regular work.

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40 Amazing Online Photography Magazines

Whatever country we live in, we're probably all familiar with the well-known photography magazines available in our newsagents and bookstores. The UK has Practical Photography, France has Photo, the Italians have Zoom and the Americans have American Photo. What you may not know is that there are many more photography magazines that are only available online. And some of them are good, very good.

That's the great thing about online publishing. It's cheap, it's easy, and just about anyone with a PC and an internet connection can take part. The difficulty lies in putting together a quality publication, something that rivals the best commercial magazines for content and quality (we hope you think that Smashing Magazine just does that!)

As an introduction to the wonderful world of online photography magazines, we put together a list of the biggest and best that we could find. You won't find these magazines in your local bookstore, they're only available online. From photojournalism to portraiture, from landscapes to lomography (and everything in between), you'll find the most amazing photography and discover the work of some of the world's best photographers, both famous and unknown. Dive in and enjoy their work.

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40 Captivating Photos That Depict Human Emotion

Though we differ in the way we look and things we believe in, there's something we all share: emotion. Human emotion is innate in all of us; it's something we're born with and something we die with. Happiness, sadness, love, hatred, worries, and indifference - these are things that constantly occur in our daily lives.

Today we share with you 40 powerful depictions of the human emotion. In these photos you'll see celebrations, sadness in defeat, raw anger, and everything else in between that makes us what we are… human.

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Weird, Confusing and Irritating Photography

We daily come across with so many photos some of them are good while some are not happening. Some photos are so ordinary that you hardly keep them in mind while some of the photos are simply outstanding and awesome pieces of photography that you reminisce them again and again, and just wonder how photographer has taken such a beautiful picture. You always summon up these photos to muster some clue that how these photos have been taken.

Here we are sharing photos that can boggle your mind. Some of the photos among them are perplexing and mystifying. So are you ready to get bewildered?

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Beautiful Pictures For Spring Inspiration

Inspiration is all around us: you can derive new ideas from people you meet, places you visit and observations you make. Sometimes it is enough just to take a look around and observe the beauty of nature surrounding us everywhere. For instance, spring is often considered the most beautiful and inspirational period of the year, with its refreshing, colorful, vivid imagery and structures. And this post hopes to prove just that.

In Web design, you can explore various facets of spring: the flourishing beauty of the environment; the time of passion, emotions and love; the time of warmth and the refreshing evening breeze; but also rainy storms and muddy ground.

Below, we present a showcase of 35 outstanding pictures related to spring. Hopefully, these will give you a new perspective and maybe provide some ideas for your next design. Please notice: every image is linked to the source from where it was taken. Feel free to explore further works of the talented photographers and artists presented here.

You may also want to take a look at the following related posts:

• The Beauty Of Urban Decay
• Beautiful Examples Of Rain Photography

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35 (Really) Stunning Photos and Pictures

We love beautiful photography. In photos, the beauty isn't necessarily reflected in an eye-catching combination of colors; perspectives, angle, composition and, most importantly, the idea behind the shot or the situation in which the shot was taken, are particularly important when it comes for our showcases.

Over the last months we have covered a variety of different photography arts, such as shadow photography, night photography, city photography, arial photography, urban decay and many others (you can find them in our section Inspiration). This time we present you a "mixed bag" of some truly outstanding photos and images, created by talented photographers and designers across the globe.

Below you'll find 35 truly stunning, beautiful and unusual photos. Every image is linked and leads to the source from which it was taken. Please feel free to explore further works of the talented photographers presented above.

You may want to take a look at the following related posts:

• (Really) Stunning Pictures and Photos
• Beautiful Black and White Photography

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Showcase Of Beautiful Shadow Photography

Shadows can add a lot to a photograph. They can emphasize emotions, create surreal images, and be used in a variety of ways. While strong use of shadows in color photographs tends to be mostly used in silhouettes, it can also appear in a variety of other forms in color photos as well. In my opinion though, shadows are most powerful when used in black and white photographs.

Below we present a showcase of truly outstanding photos that make strong use of shadows in a variety of ways. All images are linked to the sources where they were found. Please feel free to explore further works of photographers showcased in this post.

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10 Easy Steps To Advanced Photography Skills

A camera does not work like an eye; film does not work like memory. There is a fine line between a photo that is quite nice and one that is quite breathtaking. At some unknown point, a photo can cross the Rubicon and be forever a piece of beautiful art. That hinterland between a regular photo and evocative art is a shifting area from person to person and taste to taste. However, that zone can be narrowed a bit once you start to consider the way the brain stores memories and emotions.

And yes, it gets a bit touchy-feely here trying to determine if your work has crossed that line. With rigorous practice and peer feedback, you can start to appreciate where that zone is and, consequently, improve your hit ratio.

The good news is that divining your way to more beautiful photos does not require rune rites of scapulimancy. There are some basic things and mantras to keep in mind as you practice and fail, then practice and succeed, then practice and fail, then practice and succeed, and rinse and repeat. We’ll detail a few of these below.

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35 Beautiful Examples Of Animals Photography

Animal photography is probably one of the most dangerous types of photography. The outcome totally depends on the skills of photographer and the time when the shot is taken. A photographer who uses good exposure, color and blur settings along with appropriate shutter speed and focusing techniques can produce stunning photographs.

Below we feature 35 beautiful examples of animal photography, photos of wild, tamed and other animals. All photographs are linked and lead to the source - the respective photographers. Do not forget to explore further works of these talented photographers. Please notice that the collection presented below is supposed to only give you some inspiration, it can and should be extended; please feel free to suggest links to further resources in the comments to this posts.

You may be interested in the following related posts:

• 50 Stunning Examples Of Reflective Photography
• 60 Beautiful Examples Of Night Photography
• 50 Stunning Underwater Photos
• 25 Beautiful Macro Photography Shots
• 35 Beautiful Examples Of Rain Photography

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50 Wonderful, Inspiring Photoblogs

A photoblog is a very specific type of blog. Its focus is photography, and there are typically few words beyond a caption and comments. Photoblogs are easy to set up and maintain, and they make great photo galleries for photographers who are put off by the complexity of HTML coding or installing a CMS such as WordPress.

It’s because of this simplicity, not to mention the development of free yet sophisticated tools like Pixelpost, that photoblogging has exploded in popularity over the last few years. Photoblogs.org, for example, lists over 32,000 photoblogs! That’s a lot of photos, and a lot of photographers vying for your attention.

Dedicated as ever to making your life easier, we’ve handpicked over 50 brilliant photoblogs for your viewing pleasure. There’s a little of everything, including photojournalism and nature, landscape, street, portrait and travel photography. We’ve also listed some of the best photoblogging solutions, articles and other resources at the bottom of the post.

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35 Examples Of Beautiful City Photography

More people across the world are living in cities than ever before. Cities are both places of historical significance and the engines of the world’s economy. They’re also home to some of the greatest treasures and buildings that mankind has created. Cities are wonderful subjects for photography. They offer a variety of subjects suitable for both straight and HDR photography, including architectural, street and night photography. The structure, angles and texture you get with architectural photography make it unique and very engaging.

From the energy of Cairo to the canals of Venice, Smashing Magazine celebrates the diversity of the world’s cities by presenting you 35 beautiful city photos. Be sure to check out the portfolios of the talented photographers whose work you see here. We’ve also included some useful links at the bottom of the article.

You may be interested in the following related posts:

• The Beauty of Street Photography
• Beautiful Black and White Photography
• 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

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The Beauty Of Urban Decay

The city is a fantastic source of beauty and inspiration, with all the glitz and glamour glistening beneath the city lights. But there is another side of the city altogether, one rife with its own kind of allure. Across the tracks, away from the dazzle of downtown, lies a darker imagination, this one looking to grunge-ridden, dilapidated architecture for inspiration. There is a beauty that pervades this kind of urban decay and captured wonderfully through a photographer’s well-trained eye. These industrial city scenes are wonderfully dark and offer a glimpse of the weathered face beneath the city facade.

In this inspirational installment, we take a tour and show the charm of a more neglected and worn side of the city. We showcase the beauty of urban decay, a series of photos of this eroded elegance that photographers have captured brilliantly. These gorgeously grungy images have a haunting appeal, a stirring quality that radiates from within and that earned them a spot on this list.

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40 Incredible Near-Infrared Photos

One of the most charming contrasting color effects you can get in photography is by using infrared. An easy way to understand near-infrared light is to think of it as the color of the rainbow next to red, a color that is invisible to the human eye. But near-infrared is not the same as thermal imaging.

Below, we present a selection of over 40 beautiful infrared images. Some of these images have undergone heavy post-processing, and all of these examples display the names of the photographers, along with links to their websites.

Also take a look at our previous photography articles:

• 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures
• 35 Beautiful Examples Of Rain Photography
• 45 Beautiful Motion Blur Photos
• Beautiful Black And White Photos
• Celebration Of Smoke Photography and Smoke Art

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The World From Above: The Beauty Of Aerial Photography

Aerial photography offers a drastically different perspective than the one you get from shooting on the ground. It includes photographs taken from aircraft, helicopters, balloons, rockets, kites, skydives, etc. It can be a rewarding, challenging and enriching experience. It can produce unique shots that look different than any other ground shot you have ever taken. Scenic flights can give you some great, memorable photos.

Below, we present over 50 amazing aerial photographs — photos shot "from above", in the air. At the bottom of this post you'll also find references to DIY-tutorials and further useful information about aerial photography. You can also explore other works of the photographers we’ve featured in the links at the bottom.

You may be interested in the following related posts:

• 50 Stunning Examples Of Reflective Photography
• 50 Beautiful Examples Of Tilt-Shift Photography
• Celebration Of High-Speed Photography
• 45 Beautiful Motion Blur Photos

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The Beauty Of Street Photography

Street photographers strive to capture the life and culture of city streets, searching for what Henri Cartier-Bresson, probably the most famous street photographer of all, termed the ‘Decisive Moment’.

When it comes to street photography, many photographers traditionally choose to work in black and white, focusing the viewer’s attention on the subject by eliminating the distraction of colour. Wide angle lenses are used by photographers who like to get in close to the action, a method that encourages interaction between the photographer and subject. Another technique is use a lens with a long focal length to take photos from a distance and throw the background out of focus.

Smashing Magazine celebrates the diversity and livelinesss of the world’s streets by presenting you 50 excellent examples of street photography, urban photography and photojournalism. There are links to the photographers’ websites and also some useful links to articles and tutorials at the bottom of the post.

Please notice: we didn't feature Garry Winogrand, Bruce Gilden, Martin Parr, Henri Cartier-Bresson and other famous photographers — their works deserve a single post.

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50 Excellent Digital Photography Photoshop Tutorials

Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard for digital-image editing and graphics creation. Photoshop's versatility makes it a popular choice among Web designers, graphic designers, digital media artists, print designers, photographers and other professionals in design and image-editing. Whether you're designing a business card or website or digitally enhancing an image, you can rest assured that Photoshop will give you the necessary tools to get the job done.

In this article, we focus on tutorials on digital photography. You'll find an assortment of top-notch tutorials that deal with applying post-production techniques and effects, color correction, enhancement and photo retouching. So fire up Photoshop and try out some of these wonderful tutorials on your own photos!

Without further ado, we present you with 50 Excellent Photoshop Tutorials for Digital Photography.

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50 Stunning Examples Of Reflective Photography

Using reflections in photography can lead to some amazing effects and beautiful images. Using water, windows, mirrors or any sort of reflective surface can change an image into a work of art. The wonderful thing about using reflections when taking photos is that they can completely alter the image from something fairly straightforward to something richer or abstract or otherwise more artistic.

Sometimes reflections can be annoying and certainly not artistic. But creativity and good-quality photos depend on the photographer being able to see things differently, rather than seeing only one part of a larger whole. Also, using reflected light can vastly improve the quality of lighting available. Diffused light is generally better for taking photos, and using reflected light, either as the main source of light or for highlighting, is an excellent way to capture diffused light.

Whether you choose to use reflection in an artistic way or as a source of lightning, learning to use reflections in photography will help take your photographic skills to the next level.

Below we present over 50 beautiful examples of reflective photography. All examples are linked to their sources. Below, you can also explore other works of the photographers we’ve featured here.

You may also want to take a look at the following related showcases:

• 35 Beautiful Examples Of Rain Photography
• 45 Beautiful Motion-Blur Photos
• Beautiful Black-and-White Photography
• 35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Read more...

50 Beautiful Winter Wonderland Photos

As winter approaches in the northern hemisphere and the nights draw in, our thoughts turn to the beauty of ice and snow. Winter photography, especially in the colder parts of the world, is a specialized niche. Photographers have to take care of their cameras and guard against frostbite and hypothermia. They often venture into remote wilderness searching for the perfect winter landscape. Their reward is stunning imagery.

As a tribute to these hardy men and women, we bring you 50 beautiful winter wonderland photos. We included both colorful photos (especially the colors of sunrise and sunset bring out the beauty of the winter landscape) and black-and-white photos (they bring out the contrast in tones between snow and the landscape). We’ve linked the photographers’ names to their portfolios or websites, so that you can explore their work. We’ve also listed some informative articles about cold-weather photography at the bottom of the post.

You may also want to take a look at the following related posts:

• 35 Beautiful Examples of Rain Photography
• 60 Beautiful Examples Of Night Photography
• 50 Stunning Underwater Photos
• 25 Beautiful Macro Photography Shots

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