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How-To

Valuable tips, tricks and techniques for every step of the photographic process.

Most Recent: 

  • Ethiopia: One Amazing Photo Op

    Looking for off-the-beaten-path adventure and amazing photographs? You'll find them in Ethiopia.
    • By John Owens, Editor In Chief, Popular Photography & Imaging on December 16, 2008

    In the predawn darkness of 5 a.m., nearly 1,000 people stand in a circle, their white robes reflecting the glow of the candle that each holds. In the center, priests in elaborate, many-hued robes and huge pillbox hats lead prayers over a golden replica of the Ark of the Covenant. Suddenly, the priests turn and start walking. The faithful follow, candles in hand, chanting eerily beautiful prayers in a language totally foreign to Western ears. The procession winds around town as the sun rises.
    It's just another morning in Axum, Ethiopia.

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  • International Shooting All The Time Day

    Photographers share their experiences from 15 hours of picture-taking. And the images are pouring in.
    • By John Owens on December 16, 2008

    This contest is now closed.
    Photography is hard work. Just ask the photographers who took part in Popular Photography & Imaging's International Shooting All The Time Day. But chances are, these photographers also will tell you that there's not a better way to spend a day.

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  • Digital Toolbox: How to Fix Spots, Dust, Tears, and Scratches

    Revive your banged-up old black-and-white prints with a good scan and easy Photoshopping.
    • By Debbie Grossman on December 16, 2008

    Don't let the ravages of time destroy your old pictures: Make good scans of the damaged photos, then repair dust, scratches, and fading in Adobe Photoshop.
    Click here, or on the photo to launch Debbie's step-by-step instructions on digitally restoring old photos.
    To see more of Debbie's Photoshop tips, check out her Dear Debbie blog.
    Quick tips

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  • How To Make Your Own Calendar

    Show off your photographic skills while giving your family and friends a useful keepsake that features your images.
    • By Mark Lent on December 16, 2008

    My wife and I run a small Day Spa in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and I am responsible for promoting our business. I design all of the advertising and printed materials in addition to being the Webmaster for our Website. Late last year, I was trying to decide what we should do to promote our business in a way that will keep us in front of our clients year-round. A calendar seemed to be the logical choice.

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  • You Can Do It: Make Photo Abstractions

    Hungry for gorgeous, detailed abstractions? Make an image sandwich.
    • By Ray Guillette on December 16, 2008

    Photo abstractions have been enjoyably and creatively energizing for me for 10 years. My favorite way to make them is through montage. Sandwiching identical slides is an alternative way to interpret landscapes, natural subjects, or manmade patterns, such as the close-up of graffiti used for the montage on the previous pages. (While I prefer using slides, you can get the same results digitally with image-editing software such as Adobe Photoshop.)

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  • King of the Beasts

    Thomas D. Mangelsen rules a nature photography empire that brings in nearly $11 million a year.
    • By Eric Rudolph on December 16, 2008

    Thomas D. Mangelsen's photo gallery in Jackson, WY, has a calm, refined atmosphere. Soft music plays. You could perch on a comfy couch for hours, it seems, without being pestered by sales staff. Each framed photograph carries an explanatory blurb, its tone educational. In one of the west's most classic -- and classiest -- tourist destinations, the gallery communicates a clear "You are special" marketing message.

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  • Tips & Tricks

    Easy, inexpensive (even free!) problem-solvers from our readers.
    • On December 16, 2008

    Double Duty
    Many MP3 music players can also be used to store and transport photos. Using select camera cables, I can connect digital cameras from several makers to my Creative Zen Micro music player (8GB, $180, street), and their image files are transferred automatically.
    Harris Cohn New Albany, OH
    Wet victory

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  • Color and Contrast Tweaks to Make Your Tones Pop

    • By Debbie Grossman And Dan Richards on December 16, 2008

    Smiling pooch
    Tim Cameron, Chilliwack, BC, Canada
    The Problem: Once again, we commend a reader for smart use of black-and-white -- this portrait of a happy silver-haired poodle (Finnegan by name) works perfectly in monochrome. And also once again, we have to comment on a b&w conversion that's, um, challenged. The contrast is a little too hot, resulting in highlights (on the nose and fur) blown out, and shadows (in the eyes) lost. There are also a few too many bright distractions around the face.

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  • Picture Doctor: 4 Ways to Avoid Harsh Florals

    Soften your look, shed years from your face, put your memory on a diet, and other photo health and beauty tips.
    • On December 16, 2008

    4 Ways to Avoid Harsh Florals
    Everybody loves flower pictures, but they often wind up looking harsh, as in the photo on the left. The culprit is direct sun -- "hard," or directional, light, which greatly increases subject contrast. Much more favorable for delicate blossoms is soft, shadowless light.

    Hard Light

    Soft Light

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  • My Project: All In a Name

    Photographer Gary Gladstone takes a road trip that proves it's all in the name.
    • By Lori Fredrickson on December 16, 2008

    "Trying to put together a picture in 15 minutes and make a portrait in two hours was a challenge," says Gary Gladstone. For his books, Passing Gas: And Other Towns Along the American Highway and its recently published follow-up Reaching Climax (Ten Speed Press; $20, each), he traveled nearly 80,000 miles across the U.S., shooting over 115 small towns with names that range from ridiculous to unbelievable: like Gas, KS; Idiotville, OR; Big Ugly, WV; and Climax, MN. "Charging into town like a lone ranger, you don't know what you're going to find."

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