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August 24, 2019 by Julia Anna Gospodarou

Creating Award-Winning Architectural Photography in 9 Steps

Latent Equilibrium – Los Angeles Walt Disney Concert Hall – © Julia Anna Gospodarou 2018

One question I have been asked a lot lately is what it means to create award-winning architectural photography so I had to think about it. The truth is that the answer is not simple and is multi-faceted but I will try here to give you some simple ideas on what to do to get closer to that. Of course, every photographer is different and has a special vision but there are a few things that always come to mind when I think about this subject and I want to share them with you.

Being an architect and a fine art architecture photographer for a long time, I had the opportunity to work with many iconic architectural structures around the world, and every time I do it, it feels more and more fascinating. Every experience in this field teaches me something new, and I feel the need to pass it on to others: to my students who do me the honor to come from all over the world to my workshops, to the readers of this website and through my books and tutorials. Sharing my knowledge with others is part of the excitement of this journey of photography and discovery that I am making, and seeing so many people being inspired by this shared knowledge makes the whole experience even more captivating for me.

Over the years I have created tens of tutorials on architecture and fine art photography and you can read them here on this website. Many of them are advanced tutorials but lately I have been asked to write more for those who are at the beginning of their photography journey, especially those who are starting with fine art architecture Continue reading →

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January 30, 2019 by Julia Anna Gospodarou

THE 10 MAIN FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY PRINCIPLES

Dali's Distant Dream - Chrysler Building - New York © Julia Anna Gospodarou - fine art photography principles

Dali’s Distant Dream – New York © Julia Anna Gospodarou

When I launched my Tokyo 2019 Workshop a couple of weeks ago, I promised you that I would come back soon with an article about the main fine art photography principles. Here I am, keeping my promise. This is a subject I have extensively discussed with my students over time in my workshops and mentorships, and it is a subject that always fascinates me.

What are those principles that define fine art photography and that, if we are aware of, if we consider and follow, will bring us freedom of expression as fine art photographers? In this article, I will tell you which, in my opinion, are the most important of these fine art photography principles and how you can use them in your work. The goal is for you to create work that not only distinguishes itself and wins you awards, but that also makes you happy as artists and photographers, work that makes you happy as human beings. This is where I am always hoping to add something with my writings, my tutorials, my teaching activity, and my own work.

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December 3, 2018 by Julia Anna Gospodarou

ULTIMATE LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIAL 2019

Enlightenment I - Eiffel Tower Trocadero © Julia Anna Gospodarou 2017 Extensive Long Exposure Photography Tutorial by Julia Anna Gospodarou

Enlightenment I – Eiffel Tower Trocadero © Julia Anna Gospodarou 2017 – 24mm Canon Tilt-shift Lens, 135 sec. f/13 ISO 100 13-stop ND Filter

In this article, I will present you an extensive long exposure photography tutorial in the form of a step-by-step ultimate guide to creating award-winning artistic long exposure architecture photography, long exposure landscape photography and motion blur photography. I will be telling you all you need to know about this technique so you can start creating great long exposure photographs right from the start. In addition, I will provide links to all the equipment I am talking about, and, when possible, as in the case of Formatt-Hitech neutral density filters, also discount codes for it. To find out what the code is, read on.

I started writing this article as a long exposure crash course where I wanted to share the essential, but, as it happened with many of my articles lately, it evolved into an extensive tutorial, so you will get even more than it was planned in the beginning. I can guarantee you that this tutorial will be an excellent tool for the beginning long exposure photographer, but the advanced long exposure photographer will find some flavor here too. I have won many awards for my long exposure work and I hope this tutorial will help you win just as many.

I will be updating this tutorial periodically, to keep it up to everything new that is happening in long exposure and to add info and advice from my experience or from the experience of others that can help you get better at this technique all the time. If you want to get the updates you can subscribe to my website and you’ll get them as soon as I publish them. Continue reading →

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May 10, 2018 by Julia Anna Gospodarou

Complete Fujifilm GFX 50S Review – Most Affordable Mirrorless Medium Format Camera – UPDATE MAY 2018

EXTENSIVE UPDATE MAY 2018

This Fujifilm GFX 50S review is the most extensive and complete review of this camera to date (continuously updated with everything new in the GFX world), also covering shooting long exposure, which hasn’t been covered before with this camera. The GFX is the most affordable mirrorless medium format camera – Fujifilm GFX 50S body Adorama Store – and, according to many, the best in its category. It is a practical camera, that packs the highest quality in a much smaller format than a traditional medium format, thanks to being mirrorless and well designed. I am working with this camera for a few months and I can say I am overly pleased with the results and the image quality I can get with it. In this review I will show you why this is the best piece of gear to invest in, if you want for your images the highest quality and detail, the highest dynamic range together with the well-known magic feel of the medium format. All this while still not breaking the bank. Also, you will be able to understand what medium format is and how it works.

Since this is important for the objectivity of any review, I want to mention that I am not Continue reading →

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May 3, 2018 by Julia Anna Gospodarou

TUTORIALS FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY – (en)VISIONOGRAPHY

TUTORIALS

FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIALS – LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY – (en)VISIONOGRAPHY

Conceiving and Processing a Fine Art Photograph – Creating (en)Visionography

This is a selection of my essential guides and fine art black and white photography tutorials, long exposure photography tutorials, (en)Visionography tutorials, architecture photography tutorials, and my original black and white processing method Photography Drawing (PhtD). The Photography Drawing technique introduces a new way of seeing and working with light and shapes, a new way of processing black and white photographs, based on techniques that are used in art and in classical artistic drawing which I have used for years in my classical and architectural drawings as a practicing architect. This space will be constantly updated and enriched, so keep an eye on it for new tutorials and useful tips and tricks for fine art photography or subscribe to receive new tutorials by email even before they are published somewhere else. Continue reading →

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April 20, 2018 by Julia Anna Gospodarou

FIRECREST 16 STOPS FORMATT-HITECH ND FILTER FULL REVIEW – UPDATE 2019

Firecrest 16 Stops Formatt-Hitech ND Filter – Circular and Rectangular filters

In this review, I will talk about the hugely popular Firecrest 16 Stops Formatt-Hitech ND Filter (IRND 4.8), the most “neutral” neutral density filter in the world. The new Firecrest 16 offers 16 ND stops in one filter, this is what 16 stands for. This neutral density filter is not only the most neutral in the world, but, in its circular version, it is also the slimmest stackable ND filter in the world, only 5.5mm thin.

UPDATE 2019

More recently Formatt Hitech has also launched a 10-stop Firecrest ND filter and a 13-stop Firecrest ND filter, whose characteristics are similar to the Firecrest 16 Stops Formatt-Hitech ND Filter we are reviewing now, so you can consider this review covering the 10-stop and 13-stop filers too. Also, the Formatt-Hitech neutral density filter line has extended from 1-stop up to 24-stop ND filters, which is more than you will ever need in terms of long exposure.

You can find more things about the Firecrest filters and many other subjects related to black and white fine art photography (composition in black and white photography, vision, black and white processing tutorials), in the book From Basics to Fine Art – Black and White Photography, by me and Joel Tjintjelaar, where we both talk about these filters extensively together with reviewing the most important other filters on the market and generally the equipment you need for creating long exposure and black and white fine art architectural photography, and even going beyond architectural photography. We were the first who talked publicly about the Firecrest filters (in the book) even before they were

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January 7, 2018 by Julia Anna Gospodarou

HOW TO CREATE AN ARCHITECTURE FINE ART PHOTOGRAPH – EXTENSIVE FINE ART ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIAL

Rooftop Stories - Chicago Sky;ine -© Julia Anna Gospodarou - create an architectural fine art photograph

An advanced and extensive fine art architectural photography tutorial where I explain how to create an architecture fine art photograph by starting with an initial idea and going through the entire process of creation – vision, composition, post-processing, while using the best architectural photography techniques, to end up with a compelling final image.

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December 9, 2017 by Julia Anna Gospodarou

Long Exposure Photography with Medium Format – Fujifilm GFX 50S – Extensive Review

Immaterial Intricacy - Brooklyn Bridge, New York - © Julia Anna Gospodarou 2017 - Long Exposure Photography with Medium Format

Long exposure photography with medium format is a subject that hasn’t been covered extensively so far. My goal in this article is to fill this gap and provide more information about how you can create the best long exposure images when shooting with a medium format camera. The camera I am using to analyze long exposure photography with medium format in this review is the new Fujifilm GFX 50S.

I am working with this camera for a few months already and recently I have made a complete Fujifilm GFX 50S review that you can find on my website. It is the most extensive Fujifilm GFX 50S review available at this moment and if you are interested in this camera I would recommend you to start by reading the main review and then continue here.

Before starting with this review let me tell you that for even more information and tricks & tips about long exposure photography, you can read my Long Exposure Photography Extensive Tutorial that I have published some time after this review, where you can find all the details about this technique in a complete guide.

INTRODUCTION

LONG EXPOSURE WITH MEDIUM FORMAT AND HIGH-RESOLUTION CAMERAS – WHAT IS THE STATUS QUO

In a few words, I have to say I am extremely pleased with the results I get when shooting with the GFX, both stills and long exposure. Contrary to my initial fears about shooting Continue reading →

EXTENSIVE UPDATE MAY 2018

FINE ART BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIALS – LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY – (en)VISIONOGRAPHY

Conceiving and Processing a Fine Art Photograph – Creating (en)Visionography

UPDATE 2019

RECENTLY UPDATED WITH PART 2

INTRODUCTION

LONG EXPOSURE WITH MEDIUM FORMAT AND HIGH-RESOLUTION CAMERAS – WHAT IS THE STATUS QUO