Portrait Photography How To

Early this year, photographer Benjamin Von Wong and Chris Macaskill of SmugMug were inspired to create a series of superhero theme portraits with everyday people and including a very dynamic (and potentially dangerous) twist. 

I’m what (the immortal) Stan Lee calls a “true believer” and I’ve been a fan of comic books since childhood. As a result, I can’t resist a convention because it’s an opportunity to dive into the world of fandom and mingle with like-minded people from around the country.

Megan Rapinoe captured the World Cup this year with the United States Women’s National Soccer Team and photographer Simon Bruty captured her in this heroic black-and-white image. The photo is actually from 2011 and was shot for Sports Illustrated as a preview of the women’s team for that year’s World Cup in Germany.

Once in danger of fading away, Halloween has grown to become a favorite holiday for more adults than children. Adults are now devoting a great deal of time, energy and money into dressing us as various characters from movies, television shows and video games. 

I’ve been writing about and playing with—emphasis on play—Lensbaby lenses since they were introduced in 2004 and ten years later they’re still coming up with new ideas. All their products, including the Medium Format 3G with "Marvin the Martian"-like antennae, have been interesting and the new Lensbaby Velvet 56 portrait lens not only looks like fun but appears to be the most practical Lensbaby product ever.

Boudoir is one of the fastest growing segments of the photography industry, but it’s not exactly a new thing for some pros. “We had been doing boudoir photography for a long time before that term became popular and the photography became a big thing,” Cherie Steinberg says. “We” is Steinberg and Hedley Jones, her husband and partner in CherieFoto and The Boudoir Café. Their main business “a long time before” was weddings, and many of their boudoir shoots featured engagement photographs or were sessions with brides whose weddings they’d photographed.

Just as the celebrities he photographs have to reinvent themselves for every role, Patrick Ecclesine is constantly putting on new hats as a photographer.

“As photographers, we have to remember what got us here today may not work tomorrow, in the sense that we constantly have to reinvent ourselves,” Ecclesine astutely affirms. “As a photographer, you’re there to capture a moment. Well, moments change, life changes, things evolve, and so you have to be open to that and not rest on your laurels or get stuck in your ways.”