Tools to upgrade your photos

Are you finding it hard to get the ball rolling? You know exactly what you want… but you’re not sure what it should look like. Never fear! This is a natural stage in the creative process. In order to make great content—you need to be looking at attention grabbing, captivating imagery. And we’re going to show you how to do it for free.

Portfolio

Follow the work of famous photographers and up-and-coming newcomers to diversify your style.

1. Behance is a huge portfolio site for photographers, graphic designers and artists to get inspired and show off their shots.

2. Models.com is a resource where portfolios, lookbooks and editorials of popular brands and famous photographers are published. Some shots are reference shots.

Youtube

1. The Workphlo channel teaches you how to shoot subjects: how to shoot objects against a white background or create the effect of sparkling wine in a photo with a glass.

2. With The Art of Photography, you can compare the features of different cameras, improve your colour grading skills and listen to a monologue about creative doubt and overcoming fear.

Instagram

Art of Visuals and 500px feature shots from photographers worldwide, and David Ingram posts inspiring black-and-white photography, while NASA shows images from space.

@500px

The accounts of Ramin Nasibov and Daniel Rueda are perfect for those who love geometry and graphics.

@drcuerda

There is also Tush Magazine–here you can find cool references for beauty shoots.

@tushmagazine

Media

The importance of composition is highlighted by Phase, and Magnum Photos features historical photographs of marches in Washington and even the effects of industry and climate change inspired by COP26 happening now in Glasgow.

In the “Art” section, Flacon publishes photo projects on social topics and simply futuristic photography: there are 8 frames about the life of a single woman, an art project about phobias, manias and oddities, a lot about ecology, body acceptance and non-violence.

Foam magazine is published three times a year and collects images, united by a theme or issue. You can order it or dig in the archive.

flacon-magazine.com

Applications

1. CLOS is an application for remote photography that doesn’t eat up quality: pictures are taken from the front or main camera of the phone and are saved on the model’s device.

2, 3. Bluristic and Specter Cam are camera apps for long exposure photography. Especially cool are shots in busy places, a city at night and luminous objects such as garlands and fireworks.

4. Sun Surveyor predicts the position of the Moon and the Sun—with is super convenient for planning shoots, especially choosing the correct position relative to the light source as well as easily catching the golden hour.

5. And for photo processing, check out Darkroom—it is convenient to retouch frames in it on the iPad.