Take Your Photography Website To A New Level

December 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

photography-website-ebook

Photocrati has published a free eBook for the photography community. 10 Tips To Supercharge Your Photography Website is much more than just 10 tips. It’s educational advice from 10 photographers and additional tips from Photocrati.

Here is what people are saying about the eBook

“A highly informative book without being overwhelming. It’s back to basics for the modern age.”

“Great tips for photographers of all sorts – whether you shoot people, artwork, or landscapes, these website strategies will apply to your site.”

“I am now working on a new, and better, web strategy after digesting these tips and tricks for a third time tonight!”

Visit the Photography Website eBook’s page, read more about who and what you will learn. Then simply type your email address to request the free eBook.

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Plugs ‘N Pixels eZine, 21 & Counting

December 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The Plugs ‘N Pixels ezine has been around for some time now, but they informed us that they’ve reached 21 editions and more are in the works.  That’s great news and so we thought it was worth sharing with the 7×5 community.

plugs-n-pixels-ezine

The latest issue features a tutorial on using Photoshop layer effects and plug-ins to create gorgeous artwork.

The following software is mentioned and used in the issue:

The ezine is 100% free, so head over to the website and pick up your copies of the entire archives.

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Myanmar – A Journey Through Time

November 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Myanmar – A Journey Through Time is a 74-page eBook depicting my first journey to Myanmar. A 20-day trip photographing both urban and rural areas of the country such as Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake.

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In this eBook I explain which spots in Myanmar are a must for travel photographers, at which time of the day you should be in a certain place to shoot and what to expect from your surroundings. Many times it ain’t easy for a foreigner photographer to interact with the locals in order to ease out the photographic process. I will also explain my approach on this particular trip and how I interacted with my subjects in order to make them feel confortable in my presence.

The eBook starts with a couple of chapters about the research and preparation for the trip  where I explain my motivations behind the trip to Myanmar, the places I chose to go, my photographic focus on the terrain and all the gear I took. Then I show you my photographic process behind the images, from thinking about compositions to what I did with the images after I took them.  After this intro, four chapters follow, one for each main location I’ve been to, with several explanations about the places I went to. Each of these chapters features a selection of my best 50 photographs from the trip, all at maximum resolution. At the end of them you will find all the technical data and an how-to regarding the entire process behind each image.

This eBook is available at a resolution of 2048 x 1536 so you can enjoy it on the latest tablets with the high possible quality.

Pick a copy of Myanmar - A Journey Through Time  for 5 EUR and visit Ruben’s gallery.

 

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Learning Long Exposure Photography With David Cleland

September 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Long exposure photography is about capturing space and silence, like visually holding your breath; it is about capturing the beauty and calmness of a scene.

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The aim of this e-book is to offer an introduction to the process of capturing long exposure photographs. It documents the simple steps I employ each time I embark on a long exposure photo shoot.

The e-book covers everything from the equipment you will need right through to post- production processing in Adobe’s brilliant Lightroom 4. This guide has been written with the beginner to the long exposure process in mind; however, the enthusiast and professional alike may find something of relevance also. The know-how in this book will enable you to capture stunning long exposure images on even the simplest of camera set-ups.

This e-book should be the start on your long exposure journey, and all it takes is a camera, tripod, Neutral Density (ND) filter and patience. Once you have understood the basics, you will be able to develop your style and create dramatic long exposure landscape images.

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The Author:

David Cleland is a landscape and reportage photographer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

David is best known for his landscape and documentary photography which has featured in a number of photographic exhibitions his solo exhibition, an exploration of the decay of a 400-year evacuated mill received critical acclaim. David also teaches film and animation applying the rules of still photography to the art of moving image.

David’s work has been accepted by Getty Images and been published in a number of national publications and used in numerous book covers.

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David has written for a number of publications on the importance of photography in education and also produced tutorials and papers on a range of photography techniques.

The book sells for $5 and comes with 6 free Lightroom presets. Pick up a copy today.

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Behind the Scenes: Making ‘Understanding Exposure: Perfect Exposure on Your EOS Camera’

May 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Behind the photos

© Andrew S Gibson

I took this photo several years ago in the city of La Plata in Argentina. The gothic cathedral is the largest cathedral in the Americas and took around 100 years to build. They only finished it 20 years ago. It illustrates the concept of exposure perfectly, as the church and statue are backlit by the setting sun – a challenging situation when it comes to deciding the optimum exposure.

© Andrew S Gibson

© Andrew S Gibson

I recently spent six months in Shanghai, China – some of the photos I took on that trip appeared in the book. These two photos were taken in Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou. The main attraction in this city is West Lake – a beautiful lake surrounded by low hills, forests and ancient temples.

Both photos are close-ups – I used an 85mm lens on my EOS 5D Mark II fitted with a 500D close-up lens. That’s a +2 diopter close-up lens (or filter) that lets me get closer to the subject. I like this style because it lets me concentrate on details like the incense sticks and candle.

© Andrew S Gibson

I took this photo of the three monkeys at Dongtai Road Antiques Market in Shanghai. Dongtai Road is a narrow street lined with market stalls and shops. The guides say around half of the stuff sold there is fake – but there are lots of genuine items there too if you know how to find them. I don’t – but as my interest is in taking photos, not buying antiques, all I cared about is whether they were photogenic. The market stalls holders were friendly and not as pushy as I expected, and happy for me to take photos.

The Idea

Writing the body of the book was the easy part – it only took a few days. The hard part was planning what to write about and then finding good photos to illustrate it. Caption writing, diagram creation, putting tables together and fact checking all take a lot longer. I rewrote the first draft several times until I was happy with it. The book also had to be designed, which I did myself with Adobe InDesign.

I got the idea for ‘Understanding Exposure: Perfect Exposure on Your EOS Camera‘ after reading a couple of books about exposure. One was meant to be for digital cameras but had clearly been originally written some time ago and the author hadn’t taken the differences between film and digital cameras into account. The other book divided exposure into around 12 exposure scenarios, and I thought that overcomplicated things.

I started thinking about simplifying the topic of exposure, and came up with three basic exposure scenarios which cover any situation a photographer will encounter.

I also thought about the differences between film and digital cameras. Part of the reason people get confused about exposure is because digital sensors react to light differently than film. Photographers who learned their craft with film have to relearn many of the basic principles. Of course, now that digital technology has matured there are many photographers who have never used film cameras, and I took care to ensure that the book is just as relevant to them.

These ideas are the heart of the book. I also decided to make it EOS specific. It meant that I could go deep and explain to EOS camera owners what the various metering and exposure modes do on their cameras. That separates it from generic books about exposure. It’s the second in a series that will develop into a comprehensive library of books about the EOS system.

 

Download the eBook Now for only £7

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Andrew S Gibson is a freelance writer and photographer. He is the Technical Editor of EOS magazine and writes for photography websites, magazines and book publishers. 

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The Inspired Eye Volume 3 eBook Released

September 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Calibrate your Creativity. The Inspired Eye, Volume 3, is about the creative process behind our photography. Technical proficiency is highly over-rated; if you can make a good exposure, and focus the camera, the rest is about your choices, your own creative decisions in making a photograph.

Improving your photography happens when you improve the way you approach your own unique creative process.

If you want to create great photographs, gear and technique won’t get you there. The continual focus on gear at the expense of creativity is why so many who love this craft become frustrated. After all, a camera, for all the bells and whistles, is just a box with a hole in it.

Add a lens and there’s little else. Spend too much time on the peripherals – gear and technique – without tending to the core, and we risk ending up really proficient at creating photographs that are uninspired and uninspiring. If you have any interest in expressing yourself and creating beauty, if you’re more than just a camera-collector but a photographer, then creativity is your core asset. Investing in that asset, and understanding how it works, is key.

The Inspired Eye, Volume 3, is the third and final installment in the Inspired Eye series, an eBook full of discussion about the way we think and create – it’s about what happens before and during the time the camera comes to our eye and the shutter is pressed. It’s about how we deal with constraints, challenges, and inspiration; it’s about how we light and feed the fire of creativity.

Download it Now.

Discount Codes

The Inspired Eye 3 is now available for PDF download for $5, or pay just $4 if you use coupon code EYETHREE4. You can also download 5 or more PDF eBooks at 20% off when you use the discount code EYETHREE20. These codes expire Saturday, September 24 at 11:59pm (PST).

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Collection Souls Street Photography eBook

September 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Thomas Leuthard is a familiar name in the online street photography scene. Thomas’s first book “Going Candid” was an instant hit with photographers receiving 10000 downloads in the first 48 hours of release.

Thomas has written and published his second ebook entitled “Collecting Souls” and I feel it is even better than the first book, packed with stunning inspirational photography and down to earth tips that will build the confidence of any starting street photographer.

One top tip when reading the ebook if there is a photography you particularly like you can click on it to view on flickr. Alternatively you can view the complete set of photos featured in the book here. 

Collecting Souls is 100 pages of street photography education wrapped up in one simple free ebook. From advice on respecting rights through to camera advice the book is a read you can come back to again and again for inspiration and tips.  At the core of Collecting Souls is a simple premise that Thomas sticks to religiously.

“Focus on Humanity, not on Technology”

Street Photography is the optical capture of someone’s personal view of an everyday moment in public. This means that your personal view might be in- terpreted differently by your viewers. That is the beauty of street photography each photo is a snapshot of an interaction or situation that you can share with others.

You can download both Thomas’s eBooks on Street Photography here. 

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Making Light : How to use a Flash eBook

August 17, 2011 by 1 Comment

I have owned a flash basically since I have owned a digital SLR camera but it is one area of photography that be a challenge to many. Considering the flash as just another light source is one thing but how many times have you ended up with photos that are either heavily over or under-exposed.

Flash may be just another light source, but it differs in one important way from ambient light, and that’s in the duration: a flash happens momentaneously, whereas ambient light is continuous.

‘Making Light‘ seeks to explain the myths and challenges of using both on camera and off camera flash systems. The book is aimed at all of us out there who own a flash unit but haven’t mastered how to use it properly.

This 62 page ebook will take you from zero to hero quite literally. Starting with on camera flash the book confidently takes you through growing your lighting setup through to using remote triggers.

After the introductory chapters, there is a few chapters on suggested gear that should satisfy even the biggest of camera geeks. Recession friendly the eBook sticks to the basics, both in terms of triggers and in terms of modifiers.

A suggested USD $250 could have you kitted out with a basic yet quality off-camera flash set. And that includes a flash!

The book covers gels unbrellas and explains the benefits of TTL and manual flash control. This is a book I will revisit again and again, I have bought a number of books in lighting but all have failed to really explain the basics as well as this $8 ebook.

One of the best aspects of the book are the case studies in chapter 9. They were all taken with just one flash off-camera and they are stunning. No longer should you think of a flash as an indoor lighting tool the case studies show the value offered by a flash in a range of different locations and situations.

Download the eBook Now for only $8

 

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The Andes : Photography eBook

August 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

As the author of the hugely successful “The Magic of Black and White” series Andrew S Gibson is no stranger to photographer writing.

The Andes is Andrew’s latest photography journal, this is a evocative and inspirational look at a journey through the Andes, the photos in this eBook cover a period of change in Andrews life and photographic journey.

The first set of photos are taken on film cameras, and the last on digital SLRs, as the author made the transition from film to digital.

I want to inspire people. Travel for many people is an unrealised dream. Things like the business of making a living, relationships and other constraints on finances and time can prevent people from turning dreams into reality.

The first 46 pages of the book are packed with some of the most inspirational black and white images I have seen. Andrew then offers his fellow photographers an inspirational and educational view of his experiences.

There is a substantial amount of reading in this book and you can be sure to learn as much about the Andes and Andrew’s personal experience as you will about photography and going digital. In many ways the book is as close to being there as many of us will get.

One of my favourite aspects of the publication is a series of photos with specific explanations. The author explains both the camera, lens and settings used as well as insight into both the experience and location.

For all you gear junkies out there you will be interested to note that the digital shots were taking on a 350D and 40D reiterating again the importance of creativity and craft over owning the best cameras and lenses.

I have a large number of photography ebooks on my digital devices and I keep returning to them again and again for inspiration. The Andes is a 75 page treasure trove of such inspiration. At only $5 it is the best thing you could buy today.

Download Now Checkout our other book reviews here.

Special Offer on PDFs

For the first five days only, if you use the promotional code ANDES4 when you checkout, you can have the PDF version of ANDES, The Print & The Process Series for only $4 OR use the code ANDES20 to get 20% off when you buy 5 or more PDF ebooks from the Craft & Vision collection. These codes expire at 11:59pm PST August 6th, 2011.

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Going Candid (Free Street Photography ebook)

July 26, 2011 by 8 Comments

Going Candid is a brand new eBook by Thomas Leuthard (85mm). The book brings an unorthadox approach to street photography for the digital age and provides a number of useful tips and tricks on how to approach people, getting closer to them and get the best out of you street experience.

Thomas’s workflow starts without a camera and ends in the galeries of this World. It’s not about the decisive moment or how you setup your camera. It’s more about the approach of getting a success-ful street photographer who will build a successful community around the World.

“Street photography is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Thomas Leuthard

It’s all about sharing and socializing. You will be taken to a journey through the big cities of this World looking into the eyes of strangers. Candid is the key word and you will not be disappointed. Stay tuned for an exclusive book which will change your life as a street photographer…

Download the eBook from Thomas’s site.

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