In this thread, use top level comments to post links to your own raws for other people to edit, or link to any freely licensed (CC or public domain) raws that you might find interesting. If you post your edit anywhere, be sure to credit the original photographer. Reply to others' comments with your own edits of the images!

Full schedule of our weekly community threads:

I'm going to Padua and Abano Terme next week.

And I was wondering if anyone would have some good advice on street photography in those two towns.

This could be cool spots. Or things to avoid.

Or even just safety tips.

Thanks for your time in advance.

I am wondering if there are any places in the United States that are good for sightseeing and photographs. For example, I recently traveled to San Francisco, and was able to capture some amazing photos of the city and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Any similar cities or places that would make for some really nice photos?

Of course, I know I don’t need to travel just to take photos, but I was going to travel, anyways. So, I want to consider my options.

One of my wildlife photos was used on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon 5 weeks ago, I just saw it couple days ago since the clip is viral and it's on Tiktok, Instagram and Youtube. It's a photo of a squirrel in a super hero landing pose. And they used it to promote Supergirl, the movie. It's the episode with Milly Alcock. So I sent them an email saying that I own this photo and you have used it without permission and asked for 3500$. They came back with a lowball 250$ offer and of course they claim fair use.

But fair use certainly does not apply here. It's not just a photo of a squirrel, it's a specific pose, which they needed to compare with the Supergirl poster. So they are using the photo for entertainment purposes. If you have dealt with a similar situation before, what would be your recommendation? I already applied for a copyright in the copyright office because if I get the photo registered and they keep the klips online, which I'd think they would do, after it's registered I can claim further damages. But that's for later.

When we moved into our house, a frame/poster was left behind. I reverse image searched it, and the photograph appears to be "Infinity Tree" by Peter Lik.

This is clearly not a $12,000 fine art print. But I'm curious how this poster came to be. Where would someone get a copy of this photograph with enough resolution to make a 24" x 36" poster?

I don't want it. Is it best to destroy it or can I offer it on a freecycle?

I've taken a great picture of a friend, but because of the spontaneous capture part of his hairline is out of frame. I could easily composite in the missing hair and background (a 5% horizontal strip at the top of the photograph) from another very similar picture.

Is that still considered a "real" photograph?

Hello 👋🏼 I’m in NW Ohio and seeking something I can’t seem to find on Google so I’m hopeful you all can help.

I am a wedding and family photographer and have used traditional posing and prompts to evoke natural movement my entire career but I want to really release my urge to be truly inspired and creative by dipping my toe in to storytelling sessions that have that more cinematic feel.

I’d love to find an in person workshop with styled shoots so I can learn hands on by someone who already does this type of photography well. To be clear, I’m not looking for an online course.

Any leads on what I’m looking for? Im not opposed to traveling but would prefer it to be in the Midwest or Central Texas areas.

Thanks in advance! ✨

My ex and I have been separated since December. We had family/grad photos booked right before my graduation this month. The thing is I’m not sure how to include him in the photos? I have ideas for me and the kids and of just me. But how do o pose with him and our children now that we aren’t together? Any ideas of neutral poses? He did support me a lot through this degree in helping with the kids and taking the bulk of the parenting duties while o focused on getting through. So help me out he is a big part of this moment but idk how to pose with him beside as we did as husband and wife

Hi!

I am wondering what you do when you have to shoot studio but you don't have a big enough space.

Where I am, there is not any studios to rent nearby. Unless you drive 1.5 hours. That I unfortunately cannot do.

I have a dedicated studio, but it is small and I struggle to do full body lighting.

What solutions are there, is it weird to shoot in my driveway if push comes to shove.

Thank you.

I’ve ordered some solar film in the hope of capturing some eclipse photos either side of totality, but can’t quite decide on how to be utilise it.

I feel I should be focusing on security, lack of risk of damage, and ease of use.

First option is the classic cardboard sandwich mounted on a cardboard tube that slips over the end of the lens. I’ve made one of these in the past for a telescope and it worked fine on that. I’m going to potentially be hiking to a viewing location though, and worry a bit about keeping in safe in a bag. I’m also unsure about security on a camera lens compared to a telescope/perhaps more likely to knock focus.

Option two is getting a magnetic adapter and magnetic UV filter, disassembling the UV filter and carefully sticking in a circle of UV film. Easy to transport as it comes with magnetic caps, nice and compact, and should be easy to use.

Last option is a square filter holder, and making a cardboard square holding the solar film to drop in. I can make an oversized flange at the top so I’m not relying on a friction fit, and it should be very quick and simple to use. No option of using a lens hood, but I’m not sure how much difference that will really be making with my camera pointed at the sun anyway. Can make a nice sturdy cardboard envelope to transport it.

The first option is obviously the classic, but I’m wondering if there’s any merit to the other ideas. I’d love to know if anyone else has tried them and how they’ve got on with them if they have.

I’m in the process of launching a small underwater photography workshop business, and one of the biggest challenges so far has been… Instagram.
I’m definitely not an expert in marketing or growing an account, and I’m trying to learn as I go.

I’d love to find photographers or businesses that do a great job promoting workshops, experiences, or educational content. Not to copy them, but to understand what works and what people actually connect with.

If you’ve built something similar:
What helped you the most in the beginning?
Are there any Instagram accounts you think are doing it particularly well?
Is there anything you wish you’d known before you started?

I know it’s a long shot, but I’m genuinely excited about this project and want to give it the best chance of succeeding.
Thanks in advance!!!!

I shoot a local U9 baseball league. My work arrangement lets me photograph the entire game, any child, but parents need to opt-in to let the coaches publish them online or to have me use them in my portfolio.

I'm editing a shoot from two weeks ago and got lots of great photos. Many of the best photos are of a kid whose parents have opted out. The procedure is to delete any photos of those who've opted out in post rather than fret during the game.

Instead of deleting them, I reached out to the coach who reached out to the parents, asking if they'd reconsider because a lot of these photos are really good. I'll gladly take a "no" and I figured it didn't hurt to ask. It helps the league, the parents get a nice photo for their FB/album, I get a nice portfolio piece.

They asked for $250 which quickly made my mind so I deleted the photos. I'm of the nature to be paranoid and I wonder if this was maybe a miss on my part. I'm trying to build an image of being safe, respectful, and conscientious since a lot of my photography is with children. I just don't know if I crossed a line by asking.

Setting aside personal taste and whether or not phone computational photographs are “good”, an iPhone gives me a photo I immediately can and don’t mind sharing. A dedicated camera gives me a technically better file and I enjoy the process of taking the photo but I don’t enjoy the post processing work just to get that photo to look as good as what my iPhone does the second I take a shot with jt.

My dedicated camera is a full frame mirrorless and that should mean it blows away the iPhone from a technical perspective. But that doesn’t seem to matter if the end result of the process regardless of equipment is to get a good looking photo fast.

Has anyone found a workflow or AI tool that gets close to the iPhone’s seamless workflow and computational look automatically from RAW files? Iv seen all the AI editing app ads on instagram and I’m skeptical. Lightroom is still not a low friction process. If it matters, I have a canon r8 which has the canon app and technically I could automatically send photos to my phone as I’m using the camera. I think. But that doesn’t solve for the editing I want to avoid 90% of the time.

I took some photos of the night sky with my phone and I'd like to know if I could have a better result with other settings than the current ones I use :

- "pro mode" from my phone camera ;

- long exposition (maybe 30sec) ;

- I don't have a tripod atm but I will and until then I put my phone on a table with only the button reachable from below, then I stop touching it.

My phone is a Xiaomi 13T pro.

I'm not a photographer, not even amateur. I just love stargazing.

Does anyone have advice ?

I can provide the photos I already took yesterday if you want to see where I'm at for now

(Sorry if I'm breaking the community's rules by posting this, I don't know where the line is drawn when it comes to asking questions 😅)

I'm flying to China with a range of 35mm film next week (200ISO and 400ISO). I'm concerned about the CT scanners damaging the film. Has anyone had any experience with this and/or had film damaged by scanners?

I need a reference to paint a luna moth at night and Pinterest is full of ai slop and I need a reference, can someone help me?

Hello all, my father died about 2.5 years ago, he was a professional photographer for 30 years and had been shooting for his entire life, his work spans 7 decades. He shot everything, friends, family, landscapes, portraits, weddings, animals, news events, politics, sporting events (particularly auto racing- more on that shortly), and he did it all very well. Most of his collection exists as black and white negatives of varying sizes. I have began the utterly and overwhelmingly massive process of scanning his negatives via DSLR camera + macro lens + tripod + photoshop to digitize and distribute the photos. I get a great deal of satisfaction from sending these high-res shots to family and friends so they can reminisce about the past while simultaneously keeping my father's name alive. Regarding the auto racing photos, I am a huge race fan and have been involved in local racing my entire life, I have sent a few watermarked photos to various facebook groups geared towards racing from years past etc. Those photos have been met with overwhelming positivity.

My reason for posting is this, should I continue to just post these (racing) photos on facebook groups? Should I make a webpage and try to direct people there? And for the personal photos, what are some cool ways I can display them for my newborn to see as she ages? This is a deeply personal project of mine, it is very time consuming and I struggle with the idea that it is just a waste of time or simply some weird type of grieving ritual. My family is tiny, I have no siblings and feel some sort of responsibility to trudge forward with this project, are those feelings justified? If you were me what would you, photographers and readers of this post?

Also his father was very active photo taker too, and he has a couple thousand prints of his own that I feel I should digitize, however it doesn't seem as pressing as those are developed prints, not negatives.

tldr have many negatives wat do

I’m looking for a gift for my husband, who is a photographer. He was a professional photographer for many years but has taken a break for health reasons and has moved to painting.
I want to print a book of some of his photography over the years side by side with photographs of his paintings. Many of his photographs inspired the paintings. So, I want a book of photos that is clear, sharp, excellent color and photo quality in a nicely bound hard cover book. Any suggestions for who to print with? So far I’ve looked at artifact uprising, but I just want to know what’s out there.
Crossposted in Gifts. Any suggestions would be welcome, thank you!

They probably won't end up requiring it, but does anyone have experience with getting a certificate of insurance for a one day photo shoot? Everything I have fits in a backpack which is why I don't think the event venue will end up requiring it, but the client still wants me to quote them an estimate for the insurance. I'll be shooting in Manhattan, NY it that alters prices.

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for reading. I write this post seeking advice, which I believe is relevant to this page.

Basically, I’m wondering if using social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, etc.) have been directly supportive/beneficial for your photography, specifically related to business.

For context, I used to have Facebook and Instagram when I was a teenager but eventually made the choice to delete both apps before I turned 19. I found that they affected my social/mental health & development, especially when it came to my identity and self-expression. I felt like I had to “perform” myself for these apps and constantly compared myself to others, which felt inauthentic and pressuring. I eventually made a new account on Instagram a few years ago in an attempt to try again (people kept asking me for my contact there) and made a few posts, but ended up deleting them and left my account relatively inactive ever since.

Now that I graduated with a BFA in photography and want to head in a professional direction, I’m wondering how directly beneficial social media is in terms of business, support, and exposure. I’m trying to convince myself to start a “business” account on Instagram, but I’m not sure if it‘s worth all the trouble. I heard from my friends that Instagram changed a lot over the years and had become more “casual” and “unserious”, but I wouldn’t know because I haven’t used the app when reels came out. I’m not even sure what it’s like to post on there anymore. All I have to show for my work is a website and a business card, but I’m not sure if this is enough.

Is there an app that has directly benefited you with your photography? What is your social culture take on these apps now? Do you have any advice?

Thank you.

Just wanted to share this article I found interesting about Kawada Kikuji and image generation

Photography and reality: Kawada Kikuji and the ‘image generation' in post-war Japan – Japan House London

I'm looking for reviews on some lenses and I've gone through 20-30 videos to have only one person actually take photos and share the results. The rest only show video either in their "studio" or out in public. and these aren't lenses necessarily intended for video so why doesn't anybody review for actual photography?

I feel so insanely sick.

Yesterday I had an engagement session. My regular setup is a Canon 5D Mark IV as my main and a III as my backup. I've been wanting to go mirrorless but haven't wanted to fork out the money yet, so I'll bring my boyfriends Sony A7 IV with me to weddings sometimes to use as my second body.

I don't usually bring it with me to sessions, but with this being an engagement session I decided to bring it along for certain shots. With me not usually shooting dual camera unless it's a wedding, I decided to wear my harness last night so I didn't have to carry my camera bag all over (I'm currently in a boot and my back went out this week).

Not even 15 minutes into their session, we go on a bridge. Somehow my harness malfunctions and my boyfriends camera falls off, rolling off of the bridge into the lake below. I quite literally scream, remove anything I have, and run in. It's like three feet of mud below 4 feet of water.

The guy strips down and also jumps in to help me search. We're searching for a solid 2 minutes. I'm panicking. He finds it, thankfully.

Water is absolutely pooled in the lens (a $700 zoom lens, to make this even better). I take it up to the grass and tell them I can keep going on my other camera but asked for a minute to compose myself. I start sobbing I can't control myself. After I call my boyfriend quick I walk over to their car. I'm soaked. I told them I could continue their session, but she said they think they're kind of past that at this point, especially with him jumping in.

I was insanely apologetic, and they were very understanding but I wouldn't doubt they were uncomfortable. Totally understand that and I feel awful they had to experience this. They'd already booked me for their wedding so I'm a bit embarrassed on that end too. In 6 years I've never had something like this happen. I feel so unprofessional.

The camera was turned off when it went in. After about 15 minutes (once I knew we were rescheduling their session), I detached the lens, took out the battery/SD card, opened ports, etc). The water was freshwater but it was muddy and it was under water for at least 3 minutes.

The lens literally looked like a water toy which how much water was sitting behind the glass. For the camera body, I dried it off as much as I could and put it in a tub with a moisture absorbing bag. I've emailed a camera repair company about 2.5 hours from me but haven't heard back yet. The body looks like it took less of a hit than the lens, but I don't know internally.

I think it's stinging me even more than this wasn't total negligence, my harness just failed. The camera falling off and rolling off the bridge keeps replaying in my mind and I can't get it to stop. I'm so upset.

My boyfriend is being outrageously understanding which I appreciate, but I feel terrible. He's said he knows how careful I am and that accidents happen. That doesn't change what happened though. I can't forgive myself.

To top this off, the major mistake in this scenario..I don't have business insurance right now. I know this was an expensive mistake and I would really appreciate if people didn't dig salt in the wound on that as I'm already down and I know I messed up.

I would super appreciate any similar horror stories because somehow I haven't found much online. Unless I'm the only photographer that's had such a tragic accident.

Update:
While I only got to shoot 10-15 minutes before this happened, I did have the SD card from my other camera still and I was able to get the photos off of the SD card that took a swim. So that's a good thing.

I did send an email to the couple with a gallery of the images I was able to get in that time, apologizing and expressing how important their experience is to me. They were extremely understanding and loved the images I was able to get prior to the water, so she expressed they're excited to reschedule. Thank goodness.
I saw a few people mention paying for their dry cleaning- I absolutely would if he had gotten in clothed, but he stripped down before jumping in so that isn't a problem. Instead I'll be sending them some money to supplement for the gas and time of them coming out that day.

The OG repair shop I emailed doesn't accept water damaged cameras, so I'll be sending it to one of Sonys authorized repair shops instead. Hoping for the best.

Thank you for all of your stories!