Photography Tips Basics and Tutorials

Photography Tips basics and Tutorials

The following articles were generated by our community.

Photo and video tips + articles that we love

Interested in upgrading your prism photography skills, or learning from the techniques of others in the prism photography community? We've compiled a list of blog posts and guides shared by the artists in our community that we love! Below you will find.

shannon kathleen prisming roses girl
The Prism Effect
7/7/2019  by @Shannon Kathleen

Shannon Kathleen starts breaking rules to expand her photographic technique toolset. I've fallen in love with every image that Shannon created in this set! She masterfully controls her aperture and focal length to ensure that the prism effect that she realizes in each shot won't overpower the image and act as an appropriate complement to her subject. She includes examples of all three filters from our classic Fractal pack, so readers can get a solid understanding of the effect created by each filter.


prism photography workshop new orleans blog zack smith photographer
How To Get Unique Photos
7/7/2019  by @Zack Smith

Most people stick to subjects like people and animals when shooting with their Fractals, but in this article Zack explores the idea of using Fractals to augment a photo walk around New Orleans. He also explores other experimental photographic techniques, like the up-and-coming trick of using a glass sphere as a focal point for shooting one's subjects through. An interesting take on photography in general but an even more interesting peek into street affairs in America's heartland—I for one had no idea that New Orleans had South-American style foliage in its backyard.


fractal filters creative shooting portrait growings
How To Get Unique Photos Using Prism Product (Fractal Filter)
7/7/2019  by @Andrewvisualz

We've seen a lot of interesting media coming from our neighbors in the southern hemisphere of the globe as of late, and Andrew from Perth delivers directly on that order. Using Fractals with light refracting materials he's able to explore a sweet spot where prism photography and other special effect filters intersect. If you're interested in seeing how people are using different types of special effects filters in conjunction, his post is definitely worth a read.


fractals reflections
Everyday Reflections
7/7/2019  by @Charry Jin

The team at Fractals teamed up with our friends at Pexels to explore the concept of 'everyday reflections'—reflections that we find in our every day life that can vanish into our ambient environment; or, that we as photographers and videographers can use as an artistic means for creation. We've received thousands of submissions over the globe; many using puddles, unique light sources, windows, and other everyday structures that can be used as new mediums to inspire different ideas for shooting.


steve roe tokyo creative effect photography
Trippy shots of Asian cities with a fractal lens
7/7/2019  by @steveroe_

Steve Roe's now famous nightwalk has inspired many photographers on how to use Fractals and other types of glass objects to complement their subjects in nighttime environments using artificial light. He uses the quintessentially brightest nightscape the world currently has to offer—Tokyo! Signage and streetlights abound, Steve masterfully pulls lights in from various directions to complement his eerily outfitted subject to create interesting contrasts that make this shoot pop. A must read for photographers interested in the art of visual storytelling.


f stoppers fractal prisms
Fractal Filters Make Prism Photography More Convenient Than Ever
7/7/2019  by @DustyWooddell

A great thank you to our friend Dusty to doing this unbelievably kind and generous walkthrough of Fractals for F-Stoppers—the publication that's the center of mass for knowing what's currently happening in the world of photography and videography. Dusty walks through some basic how to's and common questions that are often encountered as we become familiar with prism photography and Fractals. He explores the difficulties in getting started and provides insights in how he overcame those difficulties to learn how to be a true-and-tested prismer.


erin holmstead fractals girl portrait creative reflections
Gear Review: Fractals (Your New Must-Have)
7/7/2019  by @Erin Holmstead

Erin has taken some absolutely breathtaking images with her Fractals in studio settings and she's covered the techniques behind those in this post. It isn't very often that we see prism photography used in ultra-controlled studio-lighting conditions; so when it happens, especially in the hands of someone who truly understands how to mold and control light, we have a real visual treat on our hands! She also explores using Fractals in the field, and among backgrounds that complement the subject and the glass-crystal effect well.


newly released lens filters
Super Cool Photo Filter
7/7/2019  by @Trevor Dayley

Trevor's initial coverage of our campaign when it first launched on Kickstarter is the catalyst that brought this project enough backing to bring the vision to life, and for that we've been forever grateful. Trevor mentions some of the troubles of using the traditional triangular prisms and why he believes tools like Fractals can be a proper addition to a media enthusiast's toolbelt; including problems like finger-lens obstruction, issues with prism shaping, and other common problems encountered when using traiditonal prisms.


Photography Basics

Mastering the art of prism photography can be boggling when you're first getting started. Sometimes you'll notice that the shots that you've taken don't look like the ones you've seen online. Or, you'll notice the images look different in the back of your camera compared to those that you preview in your viewfinder before taking the shot.

We've all been through this when starting to learn how to shoot using new techniques. Prisming, especially, requires us to become better acquainted with our camera and the deep settings menus and configurations that are available, but that we don't often touch and may have never learned about.

We've exhaustively poured all our knowledge into our guide which we've made available for free for the community! It's our years of work and research compiled into a short series of blog posts. Take advantage of it; the world is eagerly awaiting the new stuff you're going to create.

Portrait Photography Tips

Prisming shines (no pun intended) at its peak utility when being captured as part of a portrait series. It's no coincidence that of the tens of thousands of photos shared under the #getfractals hashtag on Instagram, most of them are portraits!

We've worked deliberately to make certain that each Fractal is designed to work well with subject-matter that you're likely to encounter in your everyday shoots—people, objects, nature, animals (more dog pictures, anyone?). Shooting portraits with Fractals takes a bit of practice, which is why we've created another portrait guide.

Wedding Photography Tips

Several of the most popular shots that have been shot with Fractals have been during weddings and engagement shoots. Prisming allows you to isolate your subject from their surroundings which acts as an appropriate proxy to visualizing the intimacy a couple is experiencing.

In that sense, prisming helps us create our story by helping us craft our scene. Don't want a few background items in the frame? Obstruct them with the prism. Want to isolate your bride/couple in a noisy environment? Rotate the prism appropriately and zoom in. Our wedding guide (coming soon) features these techniques and photographer success stories in detail.

Let us feature your how to or photo tutorial!

The photographers in the Fractals community have shot hundreds of thousands of portraits with their filters, but the story isn't complete until you've added your voice to our community. We would love to feature any work or articles you've created, which will boost your blog standing and help you connect with others around the world. We also give generous discounts and freebies to photographers that we work with on a regular basis, so, let's get to know eachother!


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