Techniques & Tools

Packed with projects and inspirational ideas you can do any time, any place, become an accomplished photographer while feeding your creativity with this guide that reveals what just what your smartphone camera is capable of.
 
A camera phone is something we always have on us and creativity is something we all have in us but often we struggle to use them properly, feeling like we don’t have the time, space or inclination to dedicate to it.

Here, photography expert and bestselling author Jo Bradford supplies a collection of practical exercises that allow you to master the features on your smartphone camera to take incredible images and also help you to easily reconnect with your creative side.
 
By encouraging you to try something different with your camera and seek out creative opportunities – from light painting to collage, image stacking to time-lapse landscapes – soon you will once again feel the satisfaction of thinking and acting creatively, with the added benefit of taking you from a snapper to an accomplished photographer with visual literacy.

Smartphone photography is addictive with a tangible feel-good factor; it’s time to embrace it and capture the moments that matter to you in all their glory.
 

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You may think that a big part of street photography is simply being in the right place at the right time, but great urban photography is more than just luck. The ability to observe, compose and capture fleeting moments takes skill and experience.

In this comprehensive guide, acclaimed photographer and founder of Streetsnappers Brian Lloyd Duckett uncovers the closely guarded secrets of the successful street photographer, exploring the theories and approaches at the heart of this art form, and translating them into practical tutorials and game-changing tips and advice.

Aimed at intermediate to advanced level photographers, this informative, accessible book covers all aspects of this popular genre, from selecting the right approach, conquering your fears, and creating the ultimate street photographer’s toolkit, to composition, legal and ethical considerations, and sharing your photographs with the world. If you’re a keen observer and documenter of city life, this book will take your street photography know-how to the next level, improving your observation and intuition skills, teaching you how to ‘read the streets’, giving you the tools to develop your own personal style, and helping you to create meaningful street images.

“The stand-out book of the Mastering… Brian Lloyd Duckett’s years of experience” –Digital Camera World on Mastering Street Photography

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Written for complete beginners, this photography book is easy to read and understand, even if you have never worked with a camera before, or a budding photographer who wants to improve. It has step-by-step tutorials covering the basics of digital cameras and photographic techniques.

In this guide you’ll explore

• Types of cameras available
• How digital cameras work
• Camera Cards
• Lenses and Filters
• Techniques used to take better photographs
• How to align and compose your photos
• Suggested camera settings
• Understanding f-stops, shutter speed and ISO
• Understanding depth of field and focus
• Taking photos and using shooting modes
• How to transfer your Photos to your computer
• Basic Photo Editing and Touchup

We want to create the best possible resource to help you, so if we’ve missed anything out then please get in touch using office@elluminetpress.com and let us know. Thanks.

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What the beginner photographer really needs is a no-nonsense guide to the most important features on DSLRs written by experts that reveals in plain English exactly what they need to know and nothing more. This is that book. Teach yourself Photography explains all the photography concepts beginners need, such as how to balance exposures, how to get sharp shots, and how to maximize image quality. Once you’ve mastered these basics, you can then move on to our more advanced skills section at the end of the book featuring practical how-to guides for shooting a range of core subjects. Take your photography to the next level and start learning today!

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Learn how to take professional-quality photographs using the same tricks today’s top photographers use (surprisingly, it’s easier than you’d think)!

This is it–the latest version of the #1 best-selling digital photography book ever! It’s the award-winning, worldwide smash hit that has been translated into dozens of different languages, because it’s the one book that really shows you how to take professional-quality shots using the same tricks today’s top pros use (and surprisingly, it’s easier than you’d think).

Here’s how Scott describes this book’s brilliant premise: “If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, ‘Hey, how do I get this flower to be in focus, with the background out of focus?, ‘ I wouldn’t stand there and give you a photography lecture. In real life, I’d just say, ‘Put on a long lens, zoom in tight, set your f-stop at the lowest number you can, focus on the flower, and fire away.’ That’s what this book is all about: you and I out shooting where I answer questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I’ve learned just like I would with a friend–without all the technical explanations and techie photo speak.”

This isn’t a book of theory, full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts. This is a book on which button to push, which setting to use, and when to use it. With more than 200 of the most closely guarded photographic “tricks of the trade,” this book gets you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos every time.

Each page covers a single concept that makes your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you’ll learn another pro setting, tool, or trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. If you’re tired of taking shots that look “okay,” and if you’re tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, “Why don’t my shots look like that?” then this is the book for you.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Pro Tips for Getting Sharp Photos
Chapter 2: The Scoop on Lenses
Chapter 3: Shooting Landscapes Like a Pro
Chapter 4: Shooting Travel Like a Pro
Chapter 5: Taking Portraits Like a Pro
Chapter 6: Using Your Flash Like a Pro
Chapter 7: Shooting Weddings Like a Pro
Chapter 8: Shooting Sports Like a Pro
Chapter 9: Shooting Other Stuff Like a Pro
Chapter 10: Pro Tips for Getting Better Photos
Chapter 11: How to Print Like a Pro
Chapter 12: Photo Recipes to Help You Get the Shot

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When it comes to photography, it’s all about the light.

After spending more than thirty years behind the lens―working for National Geographic, Time, Life, andSports Illustrated―Joe McNally knows about light. He knows how to talk about it, shape it, color it, control it, and direct it. Most importantly, he knows how to create it…using small hot shoe flashes.

In The Hot Shoe Diaries, Joe brings you behind the scenes to candidly share his lighting solutions for a ton of great images. Using Nikon Speedlights, Joe lets you in on his uncensored thought process―often funny, sometimes serious, always fascinating―to demonstrate how he makes his pictures with these small flashes. Whether he’s photographing a gymnast on the Great Wall, an alligator in a swamp, or a fire truck careening through Times Square, Joe uses these flashes to create great light that makes his pictures sing.

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In The Landscape Photography Book, professional photographer and bestselling author Scott Kelby teaches you how to shoot and edit jaw-dropping landscape photographs. Scott covers all you need to know, as he discusses everything from his go-to essential gear to camera settings to the photographic techniques that cover a wide variety of landscape situations and locations. Whether you’re looking to capture a beautiful scene at sunrise, shoot a silky waterfall, create star trails at night, or show an epic location in a sweeping panorama, Scott’s got you covered.

Among many other topics, you’ll learn:

– The best ways to scout locations (including online resources for faraway locations)

– How to meter your scene for the best exposure (and when you should switch to spot metering)

– Where to focus your camera for tack-sharp images from foreground to background

– How to shoot HDR and panoramas (and HDR panos!)

– The best night photography techniques for shooting the Milky Way, strair trails, and light painting

– When and how to use landscape-specific gear and techniques such as ND filters, focus stacking, and Bulb mode

Once the shoot is over, Scott covers his process for editing landscape images. You’ll quickly learn the essential ways to bring out the wow factor in your landscape images–from the basics of white balance and exposure settings to the use of graduated and radial filters, how to make your colors pop, when to convert your image to black and white (and how to do it), and much more.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Essential Gear

Chapter 2: Camera Settings and Lenses

Chapter 3: Techniques

Chapter 4: Composition

Chapter 5: Panos and HDR (and HDR Panos)

Chapter 6: Long Exposure Photography

Chapter 7: Post-Processing

Chapter 8: Landscape Recipes

Chapter 9: Other Gear and Techniques

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You’ve done your research. You’ve bought your camera. You’ve learnt how to use it. Now what?

The secret behind a good photograph is not your camera. It’s not even the scene viewed through the viewfinder. It’s the mind of the photographer which turns an average photograph into an exceptional one.

In The Photographer’s Mind, professional photographer and author Michael Freeman unravels the mystery behind the creation of a photograph and reveals how to capture photos that really make you feel something.

The aim of this book is to answer what makes a photograph great, and explore the ways that top photographers achieve this goal time and time again.

The Photographer’s Mind will provide you with invaluable knowledge on:
· Avoiding cliché
· The recurring nature of trends
· Style and composition
· Capturing light
· How to handle the unexpected

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If you want to make it beyond Instagram as a photographer you have to give a solid listen to the ideas, tips and overall mindset that Finn shares in this workshop. @alexstrohl

Don’t just take a picture, make photos that move people.

Storytelling is a gift to photographers, letting you weave together characters, events, locations and subjects into a work of beauty greater than the sum of its parts. There are as many stories to tell as pictures to take, but there are also tried-and-tested methods you can adopt to help improve your photography and streamline your workflow.
 
In this beginner-to-pro workshop, award-winning photographer and influencer Finn Beales teaches enthusiasts and aspiring professionals how to master every element of the photographer’s process. By following his five-step course – Pitch, Prepare, Shoot, Edit and Deliver – you will develop the same successful, reliable working methods that earn influence and delight audiences, regardless of what genre you’re working in. Create intrigue, pull in your audience and tell richer, more rounded stories using your DSLR camera.

Want to craft a shoot from start to finish? All the essentials are covered, from building a story into your creative, shoot preparation, the necessary gear and props, working with mood-boards and call sheets, compositional balance, and directing models, right through to post production, editing and file delivery.

Discover within:
 

• What equipment you’ll need, when and why; 
• The secret to key shots and essential techniques; 
• Plot devices to help you craft your narrative; 
• Step-by-step DSLR projects to perfect your skills; 
• Effortlessly capture events, landscapes, portraits, interiors and experiences; 
• How to edit better and be different; 
• Extra exercises to improve your smartphone photography. 

Compose for impact. Stand out through story.

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An accessible guide to getting the best out of your phone camera, aimed at everyone who wants to take Instagrammable photographs

Everyone has a camera on their phone. Author Mike Kus, a photographer with a strong Instagram following, demonstrates the simple tricks and techniques that take your photography to another level. His methods can be mastered by anyone, and the content avoids reference to specific phone camera technology, instead relying on the clear principles to make you a better photographer, regardless of the camera you own. The book is written, designed and illustrated by the author.

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When Joe McNally moved to New York City in 1976, his first job was at the Daily News as a copyboy, the wretched dog of the newsroom. He was earning the lowest pay grade possible and living in a cheap hotel in Manhattan. Life was not glamorous. But with a fierce drive, an eye for a picture, and a willingness to take (almost) any assignment that came his way, Joe stepped out onto the always precarious tightrope of the freelance photographer and never looked back. Fast forward 40 years, and his work has included assignments and stories for National Geographic, Time, LIFE, Sports Illustrated, and more. He has travelled for assignments to nearly 70 countries and received dozens of awards for his photography. In The Real Deal, Joe tells us how it all started, and candidly shares stories, lessons, and insights he has collected along the way. This is not a dedicated how-to book about where to put the light, though there is certainly instructional information to be gleaned here. This is also not a navel-gazing look back at the good old days, because those never really existed anyway. Instead, The Real Deal is simply a collection of candid field notes some short, some quite long gathered over time that, together, become an intimate look behind the scenes at a photographer who has pretty much seen and done it all. Though the photography industry bears little resemblance to the industry just 10 years ago (much less 40 years ago), what it really takes to become a successful photographer the character traits, the fundamental lessons, the ability to adapt, and then adapt again remains the same. Joe writes about everything from the crucial ability to know how to use (and make!) window light to the importance of creating long-term relationships built on trust; from lessons learned after a day in the field to the need to follow your imagination wherever it takes you; from the random and lucky moments that propel one s career to the wonders and pitfalls of today s camera technology. For every mention of f-stops and shutter speeds, there is equal discussion about the importance of access, the occasional moment of hubris, and the idea of becoming iconic. Before Joe was a celebrated and award-winning photographer, before he was a well-respected educator and author of multiple bestselling books, he was just Joe, hustling every day, from one assignment to the next, piecing together a portfolio, a skill set, a reputation, a career. He imagined a life and then took pictures of it. Here are a few frames.

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Are you ready to tap into Instagram’s booming network of 1.386 billion viable customers? Your customers are on Instagram right now waiting to buy from you. 

With this all-new updated Ultimate Guide to Instagram, Second Edition, social media marketing expert Kim Walsh Phillips highlights what’s new and innovative, and gives you the tools you need to get an immediate return on investment. From updated cross-platform branding and marketing advice, to all new practical blueprints for funneling followers, this guide unlocks the latest secrets successful entrepreneurs use to grow their following and drive sales directly from Instagram. 

Inside, readers will learn:

• To uncover who your right-fit customers are and how to find them easily on Instagram 
• The secret new ways of going viral to grow your audience and multiply your sales.
• How to use the newest features of Instagram to drive more business quickly with a simple marketing funnel that works
• A new content creation formula to make creating content easy and effective.
• Copy-and-paste resources, and a simple roadmap gets you results fast and easy
• Brand-new up to date examples, marketing funnels and campaigns
• New features of Instagram featured; including stickers, stories, polls, and reels 

Whether you’re new to the Instagram world or you’re not sure how to get more out of your profile, this guide is the perfect tool for entrepreneurs ready to flood their business with sales. With this guide’s easy-to-use strategies, easy-to-adapt blueprints, and other copy-and-paste resources, you’ll unlock the power to become an Instagram Sales Machine!

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The ideal gift to help kids learn brilliant new hobbies

Get ready, get focused and get snapping!

The how-to book for kids who love taking photos. It’s easy to understand and tells them exactly what they need to know step-by-step.

• Easy-peasy tips on the basics of photography from setting up a camera to editing photos
• Space to scribble – make notes, keep track of what they have photographed and make the book their own
• Packed with fun photography activities guaranteed to change their point of view!

Kids can try lots of brilliant stuff with the fun You Can series from Collins – write awesome stories, draw brilliant pictures, grow your own food, take amazing photos, have an outdoor adventure, save the planet – there’s something for everyone!

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