Shutter Release: 85mm lenses, turn your bathroom into a softbox, spraying water on your lens and more

 

 

Happy Saturday, everyone. Today we will be looking at the advantages of 85mm lenses, the most important aspects of a good photography website, how to turn your bathroom into a softbox, a look behind the scenes of a TIME magazine project shot with iPhones and finish up with a neat way to add a distinct twist to your outdoor portraiture.

Shutter Release is a regular roundup article here at Imaging Resource. We know there is a lot of great content out there about all sorts of photography-related topics and we want to share some of the most interesting articles and videos we come across. We are dedicated to bringing you the best in original content, but we also want Imaging Resource to be a place you can come to see some of the great content our colleagues are producing.

Advantages of an 85mm lens - SLR Lounge

Photographer Brittany Smith writes for SLR Lounge that "85mm lenses are much more than merely a portrait lens" and she's definitely right about that. A fast medium telephoto lens has a lot of potential uses, including still life photography. Head over to her article to read more and see sample shots.

The most important aspects of your photography site - Fstoppers

A photography website is a hugely important way to not only show off your best work, but also to market yourself to potential clients. There are aspects of your site that could make or break the user experience. It all starts with a domain, you need to make sure it's something professional, clear and easy to remember. Your name is a solid choice, unless you have a really common name, then you might be at a disadvantage there. When a person visits your site, their first impression is going to be very important, so make sure you've got a great homepage. If they're visiting on a smartphone, then the mobile experience is also very important. To read more about this topic, click here.

Turning your bathroom into a softbox - Jay P. Morgan's The Slanted Lens

We have featured photographer Jay P. Morgan's work here on Imaging Resource many times. He's a talented portrait photographer who covers topics such as lighting and setting up studio equipment in great detail. In his latest video, he shows us how to turn a bathroom into a softbox.

A dozen TIME Magazine covers shot with an iPhone - TIME

Photographer Luisa Dörr wanted to be a designer but found photography by accident at age 22 and has never looked back. As part of a recent collaboration with TIME, Dörr shot a dozen different magazine covers using an iPhone for TIME Magazine's "FIRSTS" series, which focuses on women who are changing the world. Luisa says that it was challenging at first because the subjects, including powerful people such as Hilary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey, were surprised to see not only someone young like Dörr but especially surprised to see her using a cell phone to take the portraits rather than the large, high-end dedicated camera setups they're used to. To learn more about the TIME Firsts project and the cover photo process, check out this article. It's a very interesting look behind the scenes.

 

Photographer credit: Luisa Dörr

Safely spraying your lens to make better images - SLR Lounge

Have you ever felt limited by your environment out in the field, particularly when shooting outdoor portraits? Consider spraying a bit of water on your lens to add a unique special effect. To learn how to do this, check out SLR Lounge's article.