Each month we feature a word that you may or may not have heard of - something that can also prove useful when you're out and about photographing bits and pieces!
Ambient Light;
I hear people talk about this a lot and it means; The available or natural light completely surrounding a subject. Light already existing in an indoor or outdoor setting that is not caused by any illumination supplied by the photographer such as an artificial light source.


Give some love for our Photograph of the Day!

The photographers of the day that have been featured for the past month at CRPhotography are listed below. If you'd like to see yourself featured, or a friend, send us a note!




Still-Life-Stills has a regular monthly contest, head over for the themed challenge this month.
Abstract-and-Surreal also has a regular monthly contest. Head over to the group to check out this months theme.
CRPhotography's contest will be up and running again this month. Join the group to participate!
Still-Life-Stills recipe challenge this month promises to be a tasty one... head over to the group to get involved.
New Year's Contest: Your Best Photo Of 2014
Hues of Nature Contest

There's an interesting project mentioned here: a non violence project featured by an interesting blog about photography and made by one of our fellow deviant artists Batsceba.
 
For Young photographers up to age 16 there's a competition being hosted by The Express alongside Wakefield College in the UK to challenge you to photograph New Beginnings. Check out the article for more information here.

Guardian readers are being challenged to share their photos on specific themes each week. Check out the results for the theme Move.

E-photozine are holding a competition each week for the chance to win 1 of 4 Samsung memory cards. Check it out here.

Now in its 50th year, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition provides a global showcase of the very best nature photography. The competition is co-owned by two UK institutions that pride themselves on revealing and championing the diversity of life on Earth - the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide. Check it out: Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Community Volunteer justanothersomeone

You can read an intro about Abstract Photography here with some great examples of the works too.  

Community Volunteers Kaz-D & 3wyl

There's a great interview of DeviantART Artists which can be found here by Mrs-Durden.
A gallery with some impressive wildlife shots by the photographer Marsel van Oostenshots can be found here. Also you can find an interview with wildlife photographer James Suter here

Community Volunteers Nyx-Valentine & Mrs-Durden

*Our Artistic Nude section will often contain something that's Not Safe for Work (NSWF)*
Follow this link to a site dedicated to the male nude artistic photography of Robert Mapplethorpe. An inspiration if you're looking to work with male models in particular.

Community Volunteers Kaz-D & 3wyl

Have a look at these 50 Dramatic Conceptual Photography examples and you'll find some great examples from artists right here on DeviantART.

Community Volunteers Kaz-D & 3wyl

Once again the importance of having a contract when you undertake Commercial Photography has been highlighted. PetaPixel have written a useful article covering a Wedding Photographer who is In a dispute over Album 'cover' charge. Whether you're just starting out and embarking on your first Wedding as a paid photographer or whether you've got a good handful lined up this year, consider your terms, conditions and more importantly the official contracts that your clients sign. There are some fabulous articles out there offering some tips, check out this one from Digital Photography School.

Community Volunteers Pixel-Spotlight & Mrs-Durden

A great new book has been published which focuses on William Helburn, a Fashion advertising photographer in the fifties and sixties. The article found here explores the book and highlights some of Helburn's style. You may also find 8 Steps to Arranging a Fashion Editorial Shoot useful if you're looking for some pointers.

Community Volunteer DistortedSmile

Have a read of the Pinup and Glamour CR Updates - Jan/Feb from DistortedSmile Have you ever dreamt of making glamour portraits like movie stars? Take a glance at Harcourt's studio portfolio for some inspiration. There's also a little bit of reading about a famous pin up photographer Bunny Yeager's for inspiration and a bit more here.

Community Volunteer pullingcandy

Check out these interesting and great tutorials for photoshop users about dark and scary photo manipulation which can be found here. You'll find also here a great and very scary selection of DA artworks from the Horror and Macabre photography galleries!

Community Volunteer MarcosRodriguez

Check out DA Project Educate The Essentials of Macro Photography an article giving tips and details about this not so easy type of photography. Have a look also here to find important tips about improving your macro photography, and Brian Valentine's blog has some incredible and beautiful shots.

Community Volunteers Kaz-D + 3wyl

Don't forget that myself and 3wyl take care of all the People and Portrait photography galleries that don't have a community volunteer looking over them. The January edition of People + Portraits Exposed - December  is out and well worth having a read to see some of the Daily Deviation suggestions received during the month! Check out Monday Munchies [32] for some more inspiration.
'CURVES' By Victoria Janashvili is an art photography book that celebrates all women's bodies and is being reviewed and raved about across the internet.

Community Volunteer tanikel

The Importance of Captions in Photography is a great article highlighting a very important addition to your journalistic works. Elsewhere online, the Telegraph have interviewed high action photographer Tom Miles who has made a career out of shooting the excitement and childish joy of high action sports courtesy of his Nikon Camera. You can read all about it here.

The Photographers gallery are going to host an exhibition called 'Human Rights, Human Wrongs' and the images will focus on photo-journalism and its humanitarian context. Check out the article here for more information.

Community Volunteers Kaz-D + 3wyl

We all know December has been a month ending with hopefully good and great food for everyone... But there are some contests being held at Still-Life-Stills to tempt you with some healthy treats. Head over to the group for next months recipe challenge. When still life photography meets food photography is a beautiful selection of fine still life food shots, it will feed your eyes... 

Community Volunteers Kaz-D + 3wyl

The Phoblographer has looked at 10 reasons why we should all love Street photography. You can read the full article <a wytiwyg="1" href="www.thephoblographer.com/2015/…>here and also visit the website to subscribe to daily emails and news from the Phoblographer.<br wytiwyg="1" wytiwyg=" 1"=""><a wytiwyg="1" =""="">The Street Journal: Best of December
Meet the Amateur Street Photographer Taking China by Storm

There's a great article from Eric Kim's street photography blog: How to be a more mindful street photographer and an interesting interview of Richard Bram about gestures in street photography captions: Significant Gesture. Have a look at this introduction of a very promising talented french street photographer: Corinne Wargnier
And an "old" but great article with humor about Elliott Erwitt you can find here: Finding humor (and dogs) on the streets

Community Volunteers Kaz-D + 3wyl

For inspiration go and have a read this great entry about Jyoti Bhatt's rural photographs, an interesting artist with a great approach. And you'll discover some Photographs of Abandoned Places on this interesting and beautiful site based in the USA.


projecteducate has published another hints and tips article, this time focusing on Vignetting and how to use it in your Photography. Check it out here.
The Phoblographer has written a great article looking at high speed flash photography - check it out here.
The Telegraph has written a useful article with some tips on White Balance.
2-hour long workshop on posing: video
Location portrait by Von Wong link (and BTS video by Spiegellicht )
How many lenses do you really need? link Her DA profile: M0THart
Preventing bright ears in backlighted portraits tip
A day in the life of a large format photographer video
Playing With Fire: Spinning Steel Wool Tutorial
Are you Dialed In on Creating Softness?
Winter photography: How to capture snow like a pro
How to Start a Photography Side Business
DIY macro extension tube
The rule of thirds of learning
How to shoot a Timelaps of the night sky
Color Grading for your photos
How to use a tripod

We're encouraging you to share your 'hacks' for creating cheaper DIY photography tools or capturing awesome photos with handy hints or tips. Note CRPhotography if you have a 'hack' for next month!


Are you a Lens Hoarder? Then the perfect piece of equipment has been designed just for you! They're calling it the equivalent to a 'wine rack' - for those who are as obsessed about lenses as others might be about wine, this is a great storage solution. Check it out here.
This time the high-megapixel DSLR from Canon might be a reality quite soon, you can read more here.
The Best photography books of 2014 (according to The Guardian) have been released in an article. What are your thoughts?
  What's a leaf shutter, and why does it matter? link
Tutorial on lens calibration for autofocus cameras: link
Adobe Lightroom Mobile for Android Phones: link
Lightroom 6 will only run on 64bit systems link
A new camera and two new lenses from Nikon
World first 2:1 magnification lens: Venus Optics 60mm f/2.8
Samyang 135mm f/2.0 announced


How much of good photography is editing? Who does editing here?
Any Photographers had any luck selling there photos on DA?
A Model Without A Photographer
Fellow Models/Photographers with modelmayhem!
Using FB to hire models?
Photography Advice
Advice for someone new to 35mm film?
Any good free software?
Models
Is it always necessary for an image to be 'correct'?
Roadtrip time lapse?
Colourful Photography
Watermarks
Buying an external flash ,is it really important ?
Moon Pictures?
Tips for new Canon EOS 1200D?