Photocritic photography blog

If you’re reading Photocritic regularly, you could be forgiven for thinking there’s nothing in the world of D-SLR cameras beyond Canon and Nikon.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth: Competition is stronger than ever, and there’s a lot of other manufacturers bidding for your entry-level-cash…

So we’ve had a look at the top entry-level dSLR cameras, and what professional reviewers think of them - who knows, it might just come in handy when you’re ready to buy your next camera! Read the rest of the article »

Portraiture is one of the most exhilarating forms of photography. It’s rewarding, exciting, challenging, and a lot of fun. But people have a way of hiding from the camera: Clothes. Nude photography is essentially portraiture sans clothing, which is what makes it such a fun topic to explore and develop as a photographer. Personally, I’m completely convinced that a photographer who starts developing their nudes also becomes a better portrait photographer.

One of the things people frequently e-mail me about is how to get started in nude photography - some of you want to make a living out of it, many just want to have a go and experiment, but don’t know how to begin.

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Of course, Photocritic already has a series of articles on the topic already, including an introduction, and an interview with acclaimed nude photographer photographer Renoux.

Well, today you’re all in for a phenomenal treat, as my good friend Tammy guest-writes an article on taking the first steps into nude photography, by inviting your girlfriend to model for you.

Needless to say, depending on what you do for a living, this article may not be ’safe for work’. Read the rest of the article »

The modeling industry is very competitive. Every photo-shoot is a chance for a model to show herself at her best, and any model is only as good as their last shoot - so there’s a strong incentive to make each photo-shoot count towards

This article highlights some recommendations that a model may want to review in order to prepare him or herself for a photo-shoot. While digital photo processing software such as Photoshop can work miracles, neither a model nor a photographer will take as much pride in highly photoshopped pictures. If you take the time to prepare well in advance of your photo-shoot, you will feel more confident and as a result, look better. Read the rest of the article »

Most of us have been unpleasantly surprised (OK, startled) when we’ve looked at photos of ourselves. Everyone says the camera doesn’t lie, but where did that extra chin come from? Why do my arms look so fat? Is my nose really that long? And when did my knees become so… substantial?

It’s enough to make a person terminally camera-shy-which is pretty tricky when another camera may be as near as the closest cell phone, but don’t worry, it’s actually pretty easy to look good on camera - and when you know how to look good, it becomes a lot easier to photograph others so they look good! Read the rest of the article »

We’ve all seen the seductive photos of vividly colorful fresh vegetables, sumptuous cherry pies, and golden-brown roasted turkeys. These pictures, often found in glossy cookbooks and magazines, make us believe that if we follow the recipe we, too, can create such delectable dishes. And many of us can. Well, almost.

A peek behind the kitchen door would reveal the sometimes bizarre tools of the food photography trade that transform fresh baked brownies and juicy crown roasts into science fair projects masquerading as culinary delights. Food is among the more difficult of subjects for photographers. The laws of nature guarantee it: Hot foods cool, moist foods dry out, frozen foods melt especially fast under hot lights, vegetables wilt, and fruit turns brown. But determined food photographers rise to these challenges with their extraordinarily inventive bag of tricks.

And yes, that includes motor oil, spray deodorant and and brown shoe polish… Read the rest of the article »

Have you ever thought about having your photos in a photo gallery? I have, and it’s bloody nerve-wrecking. Whether your work is displayed for sale in a pub, for the sake of art in a gallery, or whether you just printed off a picture and your mum stuck it on the fridge with a magnet, it opens it up to a whole different type of scrutiny than if you post your images, say, on DeviantArt.

Why? Because this time, it’s real, flesh-and-blood people who look at your photos, not strangers with a broadband connection and a dinky laptop.

Having your photos on display for real strips away all the excuses. It can no longer be their monitor. It will no longer be that they are looking at things out of context… It’s all you.

I’m a passionate believer in the idea that you should display your photos - and so is my good friend Bobby Friske, who shares his first experience of a gallery showing, and the lessons he learned in the process… Read the rest of the article »

I get a lot of people sending me images with ‘mysterious’ problems, and I figured it was only fair if I run a series of articles about how you can alleviate these problems. The most frequent problem is actually a lens-flare related problem, and there seems to be some confusion as to what lens flare actually is.

I suppose the first thing we should discuss is just what lens flare actually is. Most commonly seen in photographs, lens flare can appear as bright circles, smears of light or glimmering lines.

On some occasions, it can even appear as a thin film over the entire picture that makes the image itself lighter. Read the rest of the article »

I first covered Earth Shots, the photo of the day contest, back in November 2006 and ever since, I have displayed their photo of the day widget in the side bar of Photocritic (see right!). Even when there’s a rather long time between updates, I keep checking back on my own site just to have a quick look at what the talented Earthshots submitters are up to.

It’s surreal to think about it, but this week Earth Shots celebrated their first birthday, and what an incredible first year it has been! Scanning through their archives you can see 365 fantastic images of our planet and among them are some truly spectacular shots.

To celebrate, I got the guy behind Earth Shots - Will - to pick some of his favourites. 12 months, 12 pictures - makes perfect sense, yes? Read the rest of the article »

If your digital camera has just packed it in, or you just feel like shaking things up a little bit, why not consider alternative photography? After all, using a camera isn’t the only way to get stuff into your computer for processing… Instead of scanning your prints, why not skip the camera altogether and scan the objects you’re photographing? Read the rest of the article »

If you’ve been reading Photocritic for a while, you’ll have seen my post on how to make a killing jar (and the dozens of comments to the effect that it was mean to kill insects) and the backlash which was ‘why kill ‘em, when taking live photos of insects is far better?’

With that, I expected it all to be over and done with, but I did get a comment which I think deserves a post all of its own. You’ll never guess how this reader suggests to stun insects before photographing them… Read the rest of the article »