How-To

One of the fun things about shooting analog is just how much you can play with the recording medium itself. You can take the physical film and modify it in all sorts of ways for curious and unexpected effects. Over at Lomography Magazine, one user started playing with film, and figured out how to fit two 110 film rolls into a 35mm canister.

Think Alison Wright made the stunning portrait above by asking a stranger to pose? Or Ethan Welty waltzed into a Moroccan tannery and started shooting? No way. They got access with the help of fixers—local guides without whom these images wouldn’t have been possible. So should you find a fixer for your next photo adventure?Hiring a fixer can mean anything from an informal arrangement with a guide to a big production where a fixer-in-chief coordinates drivers, translators, and others. Fixers aren’t for vacation photography, but for serious exploration of a culture.

Want to enliven your action shots? Blur is the key.For simple blur: Drop the shutter speed one or two notches below action-freezing speed to blur the hands and feet of runners, the spokes and pedals of bicycles, etc.Add flash for ghosting: With flash on relatively close subjects, you can lower the shutter speed even further. Use second-curtain sync to get a ghost trail behind the subject.Pan with the motion: Use very slow shutter speeds to blur the background into a streak.

For photographers, sunglasses are essential. After all, our eyes are crucial to our work and protecting them from the sun isn't something to be taken lightly. But, a pair of sunglasses can also be a useful too to use when taking pictures with your phone. Here are some tips for getting the most out of your makeshift filters.