Documentary Photography

How to Actually Approach Strangers for Portraits (A Street Photographer's Honest Breakdown)
Video Tutorials

How to Actually Approach Strangers for Portraits (A Street Photographer's Honest Breakdown)

Every Sunday morning I do a photo walk through my neighborhood in Seattle. I’ve been doing it for years. And for years I would come home with beautiful shots of storefronts, fog rolling off the water, the occasional dog trotting past. Almost never a person. Not a real portrait, anyway. Nothing where I looked someone in the eye and asked if I could photograph them. The opportunity was always there. The nerve, less so.

What Empathy Actually Looks Like in Documentary Photography (Lessons from Jim Mortram)
Video Tutorials

What Empathy Actually Looks Like in Documentary Photography (Lessons from Jim Mortram)

There’s a question I get asked constantly on my Sunday morning photo walks: “How do you get strangers to actually let you photograph them?” My answer used to be pretty surface-level. Smile, be friendly, introduce yourself. But those are tactics, not a foundation. It wasn’t until I sat with this Sean Tucker tutorial featuring documentary photographer Jim Mortram that I found the right word for what actually makes that kind of photography work.

Run-and-Gun Documentary Shooting: Gear Choices and On-Location Product Photography Tips from Peter McKinnon
Video Tutorials

Run-and-Gun Documentary Shooting: Gear Choices and On-Location Product Photography Tips from Peter McKinnon

There’s a specific kind of shooting panic I know well. You’re on location, you have limited time, and you need footage or photos that feel cinematic without a full crew or a trunk full of gear. I’ve been there on travel assignments where I had one bag, one camera, and a client expecting polished results. The question is never really “what’s the best gear?” It’s “what’s the right gear for this job?

Using Your Camera as a Compass: What Ian Howorth Taught Me About Photographing Places You Don't Fully Understand Yet
Video Tutorials

Using Your Camera as a Compass: What Ian Howorth Taught Me About Photographing Places You Don't Fully Understand Yet

There’s a specific kind of restlessness I feel when I visit a new city and I can’t quite put my finger on what makes it itself. I’ve been in that situation more times than I can count, standing on a corner in some neighborhood I don’t know, camera in hand, unsure whether I’m seeing something worth capturing or just projecting my own expectations onto ordinary streets. It’s not a technical problem.

Capturing the Cosmos: What Artemis II's Lunar Journey Means for Space Photography
News

Capturing the Cosmos: What Artemis II's Lunar Journey Means for Space Photography

A New Chapter in Space Documentation I’ve been following the latest developments in space exploration with particular interest in how these missions are being photographed and documented. The recent milestone of Artemis II entering the Moon’s gravitational sphere of influence represents not just a scientific achievement, but an extraordinary opportunity for capturing imagery that will define a generation. Understanding the Mission’s Photography Significance What makes this moment special? The crew has crossed an invisible threshold about 39,000 miles from the lunar surface.