Browsing all posts in "Photography".

Poll – Hobbyist, Amateur, or Professional?

We at Beyond Megapixels constantly strive to provide our readers with articles that are geared toward their specific interests. With that in mind, we have been posting monthly polls on a number of subjects in order to better know and understand our readers. This month’s poll is regarding the capacity in which our readers use [...]

Photograph the Minutiae

(A picture of my kitchen, in a momentary state of cleanliness.) When we take photographs, we tend to stick to the significant events that happen in our lives. Vacations, holidays, graduations, birthdays, and other occurrences that will stand out in our memories in years to come. We take pictures of the places we’ve traveled to, [...]

Review – Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro Lens

(Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30), Aperture: f/2.8, Focal Length: 100 mm, ISO Speed: 200) The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens is a good starter lens for folks new to macro photography. While macro lenses get quite a bit more extreme with respect to focal length and magnification, not to mention size and weight (and [...]

Mini Light Studio

I took this photo, of the bower vine blooms and roses currently blessing our back yard, with the use of a mini light studio that I put together a couple of weekends ago. The studio consists of: – My kitchen table – Two clamp lights – $9.00 each at Lowe’s – One tri-fold foam presentation [...]

May Photo Challenge

Spring is officially here, with summer right around the corner! Each month we feature a month-long “challenge”: one photographic “theme” in which participants are encouraged to take photos of a certain subject or concept, and one “technical challenge” in which participants will use a certain photography technique. Contributors can either combine the theme and the [...]

Change your perspective!

If you’ve ever taken some photos only to find them decent but lackluster when you get them open in Photoshop you’re not alone. It’s happened to me a lot where I come home with 100 pictures on my memory card and there might be some nice snapshots but nothing that really screams “show me to [...]

Three tips for making your subjects smile

Taking portraits can be a lot of fun but there’s one little snag that people can often run into. It’s hard to get your subject to smile in a way that looks natural. While a highly exaggerated smile can be hilarious, it might not be quite the natural look that you were going for. Luckily [...]

Celestial Photography

The moon and the stars have always held a great amount of fascination for us humble inhabitants here on Earth. Since the invention of the camera, photographers have striven to capture the brilliance of the night sky. At one point or another we’ve all hauled our tripods out to the back yard in the middle [...]

Quick Photo Boost

Sometimes, I consider the photos that I take to be good just the way they are, straight out of the camera. In this instance, with this shot of the San Francisco Peaks as viewed from the Arboretum at Flagstaff last weekend, I was almost happy with the way it was, unaltered: I decided that the [...]

Your April Photo Challenge Contributions

The April 2010 Photo Challenge Subject is “home”, and the Challenge Technique is “still life”. The challenge runs all month long, so there’s still plenty of time to share your shots! All of your efforts are very much appreciated and valued. Thank you so much for your participation. Here are some of the contributions that [...]