It is that time of year when we look back on the hottest photography tips and tutorials that featured on Digital Photography School in 2008. This list is compiled purely looking at which of our tips and tutorials got the biggest number of visitors to it over the 12 months.
1. 10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits
This compilation of tips for portrait photography was viewed around half a million times in 2008 and was a clear winner in terms of popular posts.
The post contains a variety of tips ranging from altering your shooting perspective, to different options for ‘eye contact’ with your subject, to tips on lighting to using props (and lots more).
It was linked to by hundreds of sites and as a result we followed it up a day after it went live with a 2nd post 10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography.
2. How To Make Digital Photos Look Like Lomo Photography
This post first featured on DPS in 2006 so I was a little surprised to see it ranked so highly for traffic in 2008 but it had a resurgance in popularity mid year when it appeared on a variety of social media sites.
The post talks readers through the steps of taking a normal digital image and giving it a lomography looking effect using photoshop.
The tutorial continues to attract lots of visitors and is regularly mentioned on other photography resource sites. Enjoy.
3. How to Photograph Light Trails
Light trails are one of the more spectacular types of shots and yet they are also one of the simplest to take (if you know what you’re doing).
This tutorial contains some inspirational examples of light trail photography and talks readers through a variety of tips on getting the full impact of this technique.
It covers everything from camera settings to equipment and tips on setting up the shot and composition. There are also some great comments on this thread with lots of readers sharing links to their own examples of light trail photography.
4. How to Reduce Camera Shake – 6 Techniques
Written by one of our most popular authors – Natalie Norton – this tutorial talks readers through 6 different techniques for keeping their camera as still as possible while taking a photo (all without using a tripod).
This topic sounds pretty basic but it is really important to get right or you’ll end up with ‘camera shake’ and blurry images.
Natalie always injects a little humor into her posts in this one was no different with some amusing illustrations of her showing how to do each technique.
Readers responded warmly to this tutorial and it spread like wildfire through social bookmarking sites like Digg, Delicious and StumbleUpon.
5. How to Make An Inexpensive Light Tent – DIY
This is another of those older tutorials on the DPS blog that just keeps on growing in popularity.
Do it Yourself type articles are always popular and in this one of our forum members (Jeff Bail) talks us through the simple process of creating a light tent out of common every day (and cheap) materials.
We’re all looking to save a few dollars these days so its no wonder that this tutorial was popular. Not only will it save you money but it works and can help you create professional looking images!
It’s the perfect project for the holidays.
6. DIY Flash and Lighting Hacks for Digital Photographers
This is another Do it Yourself post that focuses upon lighting that was actually inspired by #5 (the DIY Light Tent) on our list above.
When we realized how many of our readers enjoyed making their own light tent we began to scour the web for other DIY lighting projects and came up with 10 great ones.
Readers keep mentioning this post to me as one of their favorites and quite a few of our members have been going through the list one at a time to try them all – some with fantastic results.
If you’re on a budget and love to DIY – this is a post for you.
7. Wedding Photography – 21 Tips for for Amateur Wedding Photographers
Some of the most common questions I get from readers are about wedding photography.
As a result I decided earlier in the year that I just had to write this post – a comprehensive guide to wedding photography for Amateur photographers.
What I love about this tutorial is that there are as many good tips in the comments section of the post as the post itself – DPS readers are a wise group of people and collectively have an amazing amount of wisdom, experience and advice.
One of the most common ‘rules’ or tips in photography is around the Rule of Thirds.
Every photography student is taught it in their first composition class (in fact it is taught in art classes, design classes and other disciplines too).
Of course this ‘rule’ isn’t always necessary to follow – many photographers take stunning shots that dramatically break this one – but it is always a good rule to know and keep in mind as you shoot.
9. How to Photograph Fireworks Displays
Every year in the lead up to 4th of July and to a lesser extend New Years Eve – the chart that we use to graph traffic to DPS spikes – as a result of this post.
Photographing fireworks is a lot of fun and in this tutorial I share my top 10 tips for getting great fireworks shots. I’ve also updated the post with some great tips from our reader community who have some excellent experiences and advice to share.
I hope you find this post useful this new years eve!
10. Top 10 Point and Shoot Digital Cameras – DPS Reader Favorites
A number of posts listing popular digital camera have featured among our most popular ones this year and this one was particularly popular.
The post was put together as a result of a poll we ran with readers where we asked them to tell us what cameras they used and loved. This post was a summary of the most used point and shoot cameras.
We also put together a list of the most popular DSLRs used in our community. Keep in mind that both of these lists are a few months old now – for a more updated list of what gear people are buying check out our Popular Digital Cameras and Gear post and our Popular DSLR Lenses compilation.
Happy New Year
I hope you’ve enjoyed tracking with us at DPS in 2008. Whether you’ve been with us all year or only just discovered our community we want to thank you for visiting and wish you and yours a Happy New Year.
We’re looking forward to producing more photography tips and tutorials like the ones featured above as we move into 2009 and look forward to learning more with you in the new year!
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