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The term ‘monochrome’ does not just refer to images that are black and white, it also refers to images that are full of the same shades and tones of one colour. This could be any colour from pink to the more classic sepia tint. Below we explore some monochrome images.

"Blue Buzzz" by flyxer

"Monochrome" by indiae

"Monochrome Jag" by dsoden

"Psychedelic Zebra" by oo-rein-oo

"Anna Monochrome" by artdictator

"Urban Life" by sunnydayze

"Monochrome" by emiller3

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject; something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer is like an empty canvas – we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned, right?

The premise is simple; snap some photographs over the weekend dealing with the weekend’s focus, and if you send them to us (or Tweet them to us) we will post them up in the follow-up article. Having a focus will help us as artists and photographers to see things that we might not always see, and make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus,  with what we found on the Web, and your submissions, that fall in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

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Behind the Lens is a new series that allows you to learn a bit more about your favorite FYP Writers.  While we know your enjoy their articles, sometimes you just want to know what makes them tick!  We are pleased to provide that insight for you.

Hugh Walker is an amateur photographer who lives on the beautiful island paradise of Barbados with his wife, Cheryl and 14 year old daughter, Giselle. Photography is a family affair for the Walkers; Hugh’s wife and daughter being award winning photographers, having both won numerous medals and special prizes at the annual Barbados National Independence Festival of Creative Arts. As Hugh put it: “We have a healthy family competition going on and so far I am losing to the ladies”. However, Hugh is not to be outdone by the family, having won silver and gold medals as well and special prizes in Architectural, and Black & White photography.

Hugh has a passion for landscape photography and one of his greatest dreams is to have the opportunity to travel to exotic locations and be exposed to a wide variety of landscape scenarios. In late 2010 he took one such memorable trip to the Grand Canyon. His comment about the trip being “The temperature was about 5 degrees below zero and there is this guy from the Caribbean, with an insane smile on his face, shooting everything in sight an loving it! It was a dream come true”.

Besides landscape photography he has dabbled a bit with portrait photography. Hugh is however drawn to architecture and abstract photography. There is something about the lines of a building that intrigues him. Each building has a character that has been developed through the design elements used by the architect, and he loves to try to find it and demonstrate it in an artistic manner.

Hugh loves to create images that are dramatic in nature; his point of view is that “We see the ordinary every day in our lives and I strongly believe that the images we create should not be ordinary, but should attempt to take the viewer to another place”. Hugh embraces colour, but loves black and white. His initial exposure to photography was in the era of film and the wet dark room . “Black & white was the medium we used because we could not afford to process colour, because of the cost of the chemicals and papers. We had full control of the black and white process, from developing to printing”. Today he embraces the digital tools, especially Adobe Lightroom and the Nik suite of plugins. His favorite tool is Nick Silver Effects Pro which he finds is best at black and white conversion.

When it comes to equipment Hugh has a foot in both of the major camps. He shoots both Nikon and Canon. Some may think this is strange but he finds that both have their weakness and strengths and that being slavishly tied to one system does not fit his profile. Favorite lens are the Canon 100mm f 2.8 L macro, and 70 -200 f2.8l and the Nikon 16-85 VR . Favorite software products are Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Effects Pro.

Hugh’s work can be found online at his portfolio site  http://Art4life.zenfolio.com

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Hello folks! Welcome to the February 2012 contest.  We are happy to partner with 500px.com and they are awarding an annual account to the first prize winner each month in this series of the contest. The winner will also be featured in the Indie Spotlight at FuelYourPhotography.com.  N.B. Submission to the Contest must be made by midnight United States Eastern Standard Time on the 21st of the month.

January Contest Winners

This months contest was the closest ever with 1st and 2nd place being separated by .20 of a point, unfortunately 2 entries were disqualified for not meeting the rule of having an active 500px.com account watermarked on the submission.  That being said, congratulations are in order for our January 2012 Contest winners, Aaron Wilson – first place, Boris Frković – second place and Zoran Stanko – third place.  The top photographs are also featured in this article.  Special thanks also to our judges for the January contest Indie Spotlight Team Leader – Bryan Zimmerman, FYP writers, Amber Fife, Hafez Kamal and new to the FYP team Jaycee Crawford and Andrew Iles.

This Months Contest

This months theme is “Black & White”, color is all around us but this month we’ll do a turnabout and go old school.  We encourage you to experiment with tonal ranges and produce some stunning black & white submissions.  Your submissions maybe any subject you wish as long as they are black & white.  Remember to watermark your images with your email address and your 500px.com account!

Below is a brief highlight of the rules to get you started, however, a full copy of the rules including the judging criteria can be found as a document on the Facebook Group Page.

Aaron Wilson - 1st place

The Eligibility Rules

• The contest is open to both amateur and professional photographers from around the world.
• You certify that you are the legal owner of the work submitted.
• Entries are accepted up to midnight United States Eastern Standard Time on the 21st of the corresponding month.

The No-Holds-Barred Rule

Feel free to express your creative vision by any means: any type of camera or lens, subject, light, composition, perspective, processing techniques, and anything else you can think of to create a meaningful, impactful, and beautiful work is perfectly acceptable. Submitted images may be from any date and not necessarily limited to the contest period.

Boris Frković - 2nd place

The Technical Rules

• All images must be submitted in JPEG format and should be clearly watermarked with your email address AND your  active 500px.com site (IE http://500px.com/YOURNAMEHERE) at which you can be notified should you be the lucky winner.
• Images are to be submitted (in  high resolution if available) by joining the “FYP Photography Contest” Facebook group page, and then uploading to the folder for the corresponding folder IE this month’s folder is “February 2011 contest”.
• Maximum of 2 Images to be submitted per person (submitting more may result in disqualification of all images).
• Photographs will be judged on: Impact, composition, technique, presentation, originality and viewer input (comments/likes)

The No-Rights-Grab Rule

By entering this contest, Fuel Your Photography to post your submitted image(s) on our respective sites and blogs, along with your name. You also agree to provide your name and mailing information in order to facilitate delivery of the prizes. You retain all other rights.

Judging Period

Judging starts on the 22nd of the month and winners are announced in the article posting the new theme on the 1st of the following month.

The Judges’ decision is FINAL

I’m looking forward to seeing some fantastic entries from you, good luck!

Zoran Stanko - 3rd place

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Weekend Photo Focus Submissions:

“Fes Sunrise” by uk_photo_art

Other Links:

"Spilled With Light" by maticgolob

"Surfing Over The Clouds" by xavierjamonet

"Light Searcher" by rykardo

"Light Absorbing Machine" by bosnia

"Light Of Day" by karisca

"Cotton Candy Clouds" by light-from-emirates

"Dark Clouds Rising" by r3ds0ld13r

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject, something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer, is like an empty canvas, we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned right? So with this in mind we created this series, one that will get you out doing what you love. The premise is simple: snap some photos over the weekend dealing with the weekends focus, and if you send them to us, or Tweet them to us, we will post them for others to see. Having a focus will help us as artists & photographers see things that we might not always see, make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not. In seeing other photogs chase after the same focus, it can only breed even more creativity in our own work.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus, with what we found on the Web (including some of the photos sent from you) that falls in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

Advertise here via BSA

Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

This week I roll out the virtual map and place the FYP push pin on Genoa Italy, home of our Indie Spotlight Marco Maroccolo.  Marco is mainly a black and white photographer, however, when the project requires some color, Marco has no disdain.

Marco enjoys photographing art, expressed in sculpture rather than painting, as well as architecture, nature, and landscapes.  He shoots with a Nikon D700 and a Leica M9.  On the project, “From Earth, From Heaven,” and older projects, the D700 was the camera of choice, however, the Leica M9 has become the “new kid on the block” for projects beginning in 2010.

Marco uses one lens, the Leica Summilux-M 50 mm f/1.4 ASPH, which produce the best results for indoor low light situations.  The Leica is not prejudice, as it works just as well in outdoor settings, delivering professional images, and beautiful detail.   For Marco, it is the best solution for fine art photography projects.

Choosing subject matter is dictated by the emotion invoked, the geometric composition, and the quality of light surrounding the subject.  Marco will pause long enough to “tune in” with the subject matter, recreating the image in his minds eye before taking the first shot.   He also prefers natural light, specifically the natural light of the environment, especially when shooting indoors.   Using natural light when shooting indoors brings the contrast of light and shadow to life , produces surreal effects, and extraordinary visual sensations.  Sometimes this means waiting patiently for the magical moment when the light is just right.  It may only produce a handful of photos, but they are photos caught in a moment of time, a moment worth the wait.

During post production Marco will edit the images with CaptureOne and Adobe Photoshop.   Next the photographs are printed on Canson paper with an Epson 3880.   Printing each photo allows personal attention, individual care, and lastly the satisfaction, and sense of completion which ultimately fulfills his need as a photographer.

At the end of the day, Marco’s goal is to express a sense of order, peace, and beauty in everything that surrounds him, creating an overall pleasant sense of contentment which reaches the soul of the viewer lifting him or her spiritually, morally, and intellectually.  Sometimes this will come from the extraordinary scenery offered by nature, and other times the grace of art created by man whether as a statue, painting, or architecture.

Regarding tips and techniques, Marco is trying to improve his mobility.  Although the use of a tripod is essential to obtain the best image quality, the use of a rangefinder in certain types of projects is very helpful, especially when hand held.

Marco recalls a project he shot entitled, “Lotus & Pyramid,” which was a macro shoot of old travel books using his Nikon and a Zeiss lens. Choosing an appropriate angle and shooting the subject of the print on the same focal plane produced an almost three dimensional effect.   He was not intentionally trying to achieve this effect, however, it was one of Marcos’ first lessons on depth of field as it relates to macro photography.  Although it was something he stumbled on accidentally; he still uses this method today.

For inspiration, Marco turns to two photographers that he admires Josef Sudek and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

You can find Marcos Maroccolo’ work at marcomaroccolo.com

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[Editor's note:  Photographs in this post contain a degree of nudity and maybe considered NSFW.]

This month we interview Fine Art and Editorial Photographer D. Yee, who is currently based in New York City and works freelance. He uses photography as a continuation of his works in figurative drawing and painting, and through it he experiments with his admiration for the human condition.

FYP: Tell us a little about yourself

D. Yee: I lived in the metro areas of New York for most of my life. Apart from photography, I continue to paint and draw as my other alternative to visual work involving human figures and stories. World travel is one of my favorite activities whenever I get/make the opportunity to.

FYP: Have you had formal training in photography?

D. Yee: No proper training as in classes or school. I’m mostly self taught and had worked with a photographer for a summer some years ago. Studying photographs and photo essays are also ways of learning and discovery.

FYP: Where do you see yourself in five years time?

D. Yee: That’s what I asked myself five years ago this time. So, for the next five years, maybe I see myself finally putting together a book of strong (and I mean very strong) collection of work, live and work abroad. Or, simply to have seen more of the world than I have now.

FYP: What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome in your photographic career?

D. Yee: Projecting my most honest tone of voice and vision in my work. Whether or not it appeals to others. I’m sure this is something one comes into conflict with, especially when you start out. You want to produce work you want to feel accepted by a mass public. If you can find pleasure in this go for it. For me, when I took into consideration what may appeal to others I found myself feeling bland and quite empty. I don’t often listen to what people want to see unless it’s a commercial job (even with that, I try to inject my aesthetic – stand for your artistic voice).

FYP: Who is your favourite artist?

D. Yee: I have quite a few, but I’ll randomly pick one now: Guy Bourdin.

FYP: Where do you find your inspiration?

D. Yee: In the most unexpected places. It could be from a silent walk to the most absurd moments/subject matter. I try to keep my senses open.

FYP: What are your favourite techniques or methods?

D. Yee: I tend to I draw out an idea before I decide to go forth with a photograph (if it’s a production). For my street work, it’s just a lot of aimless wandering and patience while framing each moment as if I’m shooting the film that I see before me.

FYP: How much emphasis do you put on post-production?

D. Yee: Depends on the situation and project. Half and half? Or less. I’m mostly concerned about color temperature in a photograph when it comes to this stage.

FYP: What genre would you most like to experiment in?

D. Yee: Cinema. Motion storytelling.

FYP: If you could photograph anyone/anywhere in the world, who/where would you photograph?

D. Yee: I would like to shoot a short film (or stills) on a beautiful baron landscape of individuals (and nudes) adorned in some kind of strange and beautiful fashion. It’d be based on a short story I have had in the back of my mind for the last six years. Just haven’t found the right time and place to do so.

FYP: Have you got any hints or tips to share with aspiring photographers?

D. Yee: Realize that photography is a soul-sucking job, but being persistent and passionate about it helps. And, most importantly, don’t always follow the stream even though we’ll fall into it once in a while. Go explore and take a creative risk once in a while. Make the best of yourself. You live once.

FYP: What is your favourite way to de-stress?

D. Yee: One of my de-stressors is thrashing/dancing to my favorite bass-thumping dance tracks. Drawing/painting or a long walk would be my more quiet alternative.

FYP: Thanks for sharing, D. Yee, and good luck with the future!

Contact Info:

Facebook

Flickr

Website

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[Editor's note:  A few challenges prevented us from publishing this Weekends Photo Focus on Friday as we usually do, but we know you were chomping at the bit for it, so here it is!  The corresponding Weekend Photo Find will be published on Tuesday January 31st.  Enjoy!]

This weekend we will be looking upwards for our theme. Clouds are a constant in an ever-changing world, but they also change constantly. Every so often, we look up and notice how beautiful those clouds look today, and for this weekend’s theme, we want you to grab your camera and snap those gorgeous cloud formations.

"Sky In A Bottle" by angeli-photography

"Cloud Carpet" by downthunder

"The Sky" by kangdj

"Jumping Cloud" by daaram

"Clouds" by alfaowl

"Sky Walker" by intao

"Aerith" by jay-cougar-prints

"A Winter's Tale" by m4k4v3l1

"Droplets On The Sky" by Skippy

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject; something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer is like an empty canvas – we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned, right?

The premise is simple; snap some photographs over the weekend dealing with the weekend’s focus, and if you send them to us (or Tweet them to us) we will post them up in the follow-up article. Having a focus will help us as artists and photographers to see things that we might not always see, and make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus,  with what we found on the Web, and your submissions, that fall in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

Advertise here via BSA

Behind the Lens is a new series that allows you to learn a bit more about your favorite FYP Writers.  While we know your enjoy their articles, sometimes you just want to know what makes them tick!  We are pleased to provide that insight for you.

Ameena comes from a small town just on the outside of London, United Kingdom.  She will be 21 years old this September, and will have been with FYP for two years and a few months by that time. She currently lives in Bristol, in the south west, where she is in her first year of studying photography at university.

Ameena is a prolific writer and has published numerous articles about different techniques and genres in photography at FYP, but at the moment she is responsible for the ‘Weekend Photo Focus’  and ‘Weekend Photo Find’ which are published every Friday and Monday. She also publishes a monthly interview with notable professional photographers, which goes live on the 30th of every month (look out for this months featured photographer).

Her style is still in its developmental stages, and therefore very experimental. Portraiture is her strongest area, as well as conceptual photography, which is mainly due to her participation in the 365 project (in which she attempted to take a self-portrait everyday for a year). As well as that, she has a great love for creating surreal and dream-like images, especially as sometimes she gains inspiration from her dreams which can be very vivid.

As well as portraiture, she loves to photograph landscapes and different cultures, this stems from having relatives all over the world and being quite well-traveled as a child because of it.  One day, when she can afford it, her dream is to go traveling and discover all the hidden gems of the world,  just to take photographs.  Ameena also has a growing collection of film cameras, and loves to expose roll upon roll of black and white  film.

Recently, Ameena upgraded her dSLR from a Nikon D60 which was cherished and loved for many years, to a Nikon D7000 which was bought because of its greater range of features but also because of its ability to shoot video, which Ameena hopes to experiment with in the near future.  Her favourite lens is also a recent purchase, a 50mm F1.8 lens, which she fell in love with as soon as it was affixed to her camera.  Ameena loves to use it for her portraiture photography, and self-portrait series as it provides gorgeous depth-of-focus, she is rapidly developing an affection for prime lenses.  It was also the perfect lens for a recent series she did based on the cinematic style for a university project, which she also did an article on.

Ameena was introduced to photography in an unusual way; before she was given a digital camera for her 14th birthday, photography as an art had never crossed her mind.  She took her new camera with her to local gigs that she attended fortnightly with her friends, and started taking photographs of the bands that played.  Eventually, she was asked to take photographs for the company that held the gigs, so that they could show them on their website.  She did this for about three years, and during those years her skill in using a camera developed, and her interest became a full-blown love affair with photography, which to this day has not dwindled, nor does she expect it to.

As mentioned before, Ameena is in her first year, studying photography at university, and intends to become a famous and perhaps rich photographer one day, photographing for the likes of Vogue and I-D magazine.  Writing for FYP has given her the technical skill and desire to become part-journalist and to also has allowed her to pick up a variety of other skills to add to her collection and therefore up her value as a creative.  When she started university, Ameena decided to take it a step further by seeking clients and hopefully have the chance to work with real models and establish her name in the industry.  Yes, it is a slow process, but everyone has to start somewhere, fortunately for Ameena it is paying off slowly because  in December 2011 she did her first ever fashion shoot in which she shot some brilliant photographs, and had a great experience at the same time.

You can view Ameena’s most recent work on her Flickr and Facebook page, and her portfolio here. She may also be contacted by email to a.rojee@hotmail.co.uk.

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Weekend Photo Focus Submissions:

"14/365" by bgottsab

"164" by Ameena Rojee

Other Links:

"The Line" by MichelRajkovic

"Cross The Line" by duchesse-2-guermante

"Line And Texture" by manj3d

"Line" by salmasterz

"Draw The Line" by davespertine

"Walk The Line" by photos-by-fee

"Snibston Train Line" by ph0t0-girl

"In Line" by martac

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject, something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer, is like an empty canvas, we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned right? So with this in mind we created this series, one that will get you out doing what you love. The premise is simple: snap some photos over the weekend dealing with the weekends focus, and if you send them to us, or Tweet them to us, we will post them for others to see. Having a focus will help us as artists & photographers see things that we might not always see, make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not. In seeing other photogs chase after the same focus, it can only breed even more creativity in our own work.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus, with what we found on the Web (including some of the photos sent from you) that falls in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

Advertise here via BSA

[ Editor's Note: Some items in this posting maybe considered NSFW ]

Each Monday, we’ll highlight one indie photographer whose body of work deserves special recognition. Please enjoy their photography here, and make it a point to enjoy the rest of their work on their website.

This week spotlight, Eric James Leffler, hails from Walnut Creek, CA. His style ranges between fine art, portrait, and wedding photography.

Despite the genre, Eric is never without his main camera – A Nikon D700. If the 700 should fail him for whatever reason, he carries a D90 as a backup.

Eric’s len’s choice is a Nikon 24-70/2.8, which he fondly refers to as his “workhorse.”   Wide enough to handle most of his city and landscape work, yet versatile and sharp in the studio.  It’s also a great lens for low light situations.   A self proclaimed “sucker” for compression and bokeh; Eric also carries a 70-300 lens, which also serves as a secondary.

Eric prefers working with natural light, on location, when circumstances permit.  When shooting landscape and city, he will occasionally use bracketing in the event he wants to tone map or some manual blending.

An off camera flash/strobist is always standing by for indoor portrait work, night shots, or a more dramatic effect during the day.  When it comes to ultimate preference, Eric refers to natural light as his “happy place.

Adobe Lightroom 3 is Eric’s go to software for file management and the majority of his editing process.  Photos requiring additional polishing find their way into Adobe Photoshop CS5 and onOne Photo Suite software.

Diversity is key when it comes to the shoot.  Boredom can set in quickly, so finding a new location, concept, or subject is what drives him.  He is also inspired by the city;  San Francisco to be more precise.   A Bay Area native, Eric still finds something new every time he heads out for a shoot.  Another inspiration is the water as it relates to his beauty and fashion photography.

Inspiration also comes in the form of other photographers, and Eric has his list.  He enjoys Jaime Ibarra for his fashion work, Chase Jarvis for his adventurous side, Hoffer Photography’s wedding work, and Thomas Hawk for his ability to see art in just about everything.

Turning to tips and techniques, Eric suggests focusing on post processing and file management, and Lightroom is the tool of choice.  Eric would also like to try underwater photography someday, and would love to get into pro sports as well.

Be sure to check out more of Eric’s work on Facebook, Google+, and his personal site.

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Photographs are made up of a variety of elements, one of them being lines. The lines in a photography can act differently; lines can lead the eye into a photograph and can also provide symmetry and balance. Below are a few examples.

"Living Between The Lines" by gilad

"Down The Lines" by mrcool256

"Tram Lines" by pajunen

"Old People And Lines" by grandspammer

"Lines" by dynnad

"All The Fine Lines II" by kvikken

"Lines" by roieg

"Life In Lines" by gnato

"Between The Lines" by strany

"Reading Between The Lines" by felidae84

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject; something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer is like an empty canvas – we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned, right?

The premise is simple; snap some photographs over the weekend dealing with the weekend’s focus, and if you send them to us (or Tweet them to us) we will post them up in the follow-up article. Having a focus will help us as artists and photographers to see things that we might not always see, and make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus,  with what we found on the Web, and your submissions, that fall in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

Advertise here via BSA

For many people, including me, certain photos can be somewhat disturbing.  I am sure that everyone has a certain type of photo they don’t like looking at because it makes them uneasy.   Whether it be those cheesy family portraits which a ‘professional’ wedding photographer is taking forever to shoot, where you feel you could shoot better shots within a few minutes; or the photos of you when you can’t actually remember the night before when the photo was taken.

Personally, I find that pictures of dead animals are powerful and show a true message, but for some people they find these kinds of pictures very disturbing to look at, although it is something you could see many a time when on the road when travelling.  For some people, it is not the fact that the animal is dead, it is because they cannot imagine a reason for taking a photo, however; if you are a photographer yourself you can probably see the powerfulness in such images, like I do.

Staged photos can really seem cheesy to some people, sometimes I can see how they show a message, like in the photos of car crashes which portray the message to “think while driving”, and I think these are necessary photos to see.  However sometimes photos can be dirturbing; the following photo for example, I do not know if it is staged or not, but it just makes me want to laugh at the awkwardness, just because of the concept of the photo.  It may be real, those people may have really fallen of those bikes and that random women may just be riding past on a Segway, but I highly doubt it.

War is uncomfortable most of the time, so why do we need graphic photos of it?  Well that’s my view and many other peoples opinion also, I feel uneasy looking at photos of war.  Although sometimes it depends what the photo includes; if it is a photo of the army guarding a building or gate then it isn’t so uncomfortable, it is just an ordinary person doing their job.  However the following photo is uncomfortable for many people including me, it is a whole different type of photo than someone doing their job in the army, this is a photo of people dying doing their job.  To many people the idea that there is a photo in front of them of people who have died during a battle somewhere is very uneasy on the mind.

The following photo may be disturbing for some people, particularly for those cultures that don’t utilize the funeral pyre as a standard burial practice; again death is the subject of the image but I think it is a little more tasteful, I think it is powerful and shows an image of values, religion and beliefs.  Everyone deserves a decent ceremony when they are deceased but societal standards may cause this image to be disturbing for some while it is perfectly acceptable for many.

Remember those photos of you, which you wish you could delete but you didn’t take them?  You know, those ones of you doing those embarrassing or silly things when drunk, and you can’t even remember the event happening?  The ones like this.

These are never really uncomfortable to look at for anyone except yourself who is in the photo, or maybe perhaps your son or daughter if you have one who now views you as an embarrassing parent.  Honestly though, I like these photos, I don’t see them as that awkward if I can’t remember them being taken, as I know I surely had a good time if I drank that much!

Share some images that you consider “disturbing” with me and while you are at it consider that while some images may be of concern to us they are perfectly acceptable to others.  Be sure to examine both sides of the coin.  I’m looking forward to seeing your shares in the comments section below.

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I have a confession to make: I am mildly obsessed with just about anything that is of an abnormal scale/size. This includes (but is not limited to) dogs that are of the “giant” or teeny-tiny variety like newfoundlands or teacup and micro sized dogs, or furniture that is impossibly huge or ridiculously small like the giant adirondack chair located DC or the mini 1950s style playball chair that is just the right size for my three-year old daughter.  Also included in my mild obsession? Train sets and dollhouses.

This image was taken with my Android phone and the phone app Pixlr-o-matic as reviewed by my fellow writer David Pringle some weeks ago. It is a snippet of the amazing train set display done at the science center in Pittsburgh every year around this time. Hard to believe but this was maybe 1/10th of the whole set up!

This is another image taken with the same phone app as the above image. This one I tweaked slightly though to make it appear as if it truly is one taken from way back when it historically could have been taken with regard to the part of the train set (the coal miners camps) that is pictured.

So what does this have to do with photography? (Since that IS what we are here for, right?) Well, it’s got a LOT to do with photography. Why? Because there just happens to be a type of photography that goes right to the heart of my love for these miniature views of life. Say “hello” to Tilt-shift photography.

Ever heard of tilt-shift photography? It’s not hugely popular by it’s name because it is so much more easily recognizable by the way it looks. Here are some classic examples of tilt-shift photography. (If these aren’t enough to convince you of the coolness factor of tilt-shifting check out this flickr group devoted entirely to it.)

Kind of amazing to behold isn’t it? It is because of the “magic” that is the tilt-shift lens that makes it all possible. A tilt-shift lens achieves this fake miniaturized effect by using a selective focus on one portion of the frame of an image.  The lens is designed such that it can be bent (or rather tilted) to an angle relative to the image plane (within the camera body) which then shifts the orientation of the plane of focus of one part of the image so that it is sharply focused in juxtaposition with the rest of the image. (The Scheimpflug principle is the reason why it happens this way.)  Is what I just incredibly difficult to follow understand? Well, whether or not you followed it or not doesn’t matter anyway because we can just agree that it looks REALLY cool and that’s the point of this to begin with.

Anyway, can you believe that these pictures would be correctly proportioned if they were only taken with a standard lens and not a tilt-shift lens? Too bad the whole world of tilt-shift photography is so cost prohibitive because of how pricey the lenses are. (Too many of them are in the range of closer to a thousand dollars at least.) Even things like lens babies (an alternative to the actual lenses) still cost a pretty penny enough that it’s hard to justify such an expensive to satisfy an unreasonably obsession like what I have. Let’s not dwell on seemingly impossible dreams here though, okay? I have an incredibly cost effective approach to tilt-shifting. Guess what! You can “fake” the tilt-shift effect with a very quick and simple photoshop tutorial. Check it out in this completely do-able tilt-shift photography tutorial for photoshop that will walk you through the steps of taking an image you already have and digitally rendering it with some tilt-shift magic.

Something else you can do if you don’t have photoshop. How about using lenses you already have?  You can always use what you got and do a little Freelensing a la the legendary Ryan Brenizer.  Be forewarned though! This method and technique is NOT something for the faint of heart or unsteady of hand since it requires you do to something exactly like taking the lens off of your camera body mid-shutter hit and then physically holding it in a bit of a hover in just the right way in front of your camera body. Does it sound a bit challenging? Well. It is. Trust me! (I’ve tried it with less than stellar results.)  However, I’m sure that it is something that you certainly could master with decent practice so that’s why I even mention it here and now.

And last but not least, you can always give the Tilt-shift maker a whirl. I mention this last only because it requires the bare minimum of effort and why work smarter when you can work harder? All you’ll need is a photograph of your choice and then you just point-click and *voila* you’ve got a tilt-shift image with hardly any fuss.

Have I made you a fan of tilt-shift photography?  Please share your best tilt-shift efforts via the comment section below. If you still aren’t convinced of all of its awesomeness and as yet refuse to join the ranks of its fandom, well (I assure you) I am more than enough of a fan to make up for whomever still doesn’t like this the biggest little images there ever could be in the photographic medium.

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Weekend Photo Focus Submissions:

by slice-of-life

Other Links:

"Fire" by patrickh

"The Art Of Fire" by avivi

"Match" by cerebralcortex

"Fire" by emjade

"Memories in a fire" by reachingflames

"Fire Ball" by nigeno

"Steel Wool Light Painting" by sonjamy

"Fire" by rdalpes

"Dissension Of Pyre" by sea-of-ice

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject, something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer, is like an empty canvas, we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned right? So with this in mind we created this series, one that will get you out doing what you love. The premise is simple: snap some photos over the weekend dealing with the weekends focus, and if you send them to us, or Tweet them to us, we will post them for others to see. Having a focus will help us as artists & photographers see things that we might not always see, make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not. In seeing other photogs chase after the same focus, it can only breed even more creativity in our own work.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus, with what we found on the Web (including some of the photos sent from you) that falls in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7

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Fire is a strange thing; it is commonly viewed as a destructive force, and yet without it we would be without many things in our day to day lives.  A destructive force it is, but it is also a beautiful one that can provide light and warmth.  Below are some examples of this natural phenomenon.

"The Phenomenon Of Fire" by oo-rein-oo

"Hastings Pier On Fire" by panduka56

"FIRE" by jacac

"Fire" by ricoo

"Inside The Fire" by oro-elui

"Fire" by japan

"Fire" by sicopath

"Fire Masamune" by mattthesamurai

"Lighter" by mrtashkent

Each Friday we will post a Weekend Photo Focus (also hash tagged on Twitter as #weekendphotofocus) on a certain subject; something to spark your creativity. An empty weekend for a photographer is like an empty canvas – we could always use something to do when we have nothing planned, right?

The premise is simple; snap some photographs over the weekend dealing with the weekend’s focus, and if you send them to us (or Tweet them to us) we will post them up in the follow-up article. Having a focus will help us as artists and photographers to see things that we might not always see, and make us take a shot at something we might otherwise have not.

At the weekends close, we will follow up our weekend focus,  with what we found on the Web, and your submissions, that fall in line with our focus. We hope you join in the fun and help us spread the creativity.

example of a tweet to us:

@fuelphotography Here’s my submission for this week’s #weekendphotofocus, New Life & Spring: http://bit.ly/aY1oC7