I’m always fascinated by near-infrared photography just like HDR. They both represent a different kind of surreal world and interesting ways to view ordinary and everyday images. There are a lot of amazing photo possibilities that we can produce with our cameras, from time lapse, to high-speed, to panoramic. But Infrared and HDR photography takes the ordinary imaging concept one step further and shows us the hidden wonders of colors and imaging drama the human eye simply can’t see on its own.

Near-infrared photography is different with far-infrared (thermal imaging). An easy way to understand near-infrared is somewhat similar with its name, NEAR-infraRED, which is basically the color of light next to red, a color that is invisible to the human eye. In infrared photography, the image sensor or film used is sensitive to infrared light. Together with infrared filters, visible light spectrum is blocked, but allows infrared light to pass, thus the filter looks dark red or black. Thus producing very interesting in-camera effects like false color, wood effects, dreamy black and white images, lurid and snowy foliage, dark hazy skies, etc. The possibilities are beyond our normal visual comprehension.

To better appreciate what near-infrared photography is all about, below are 30 amazingly breathtaking near-infrared photos that will captivate and inspire us.

1. lrargerich

2. Jeffrey Klassen

3. 2121 Studio

4. Mr. Walczak

5. Bill Gracey

6. Billy Currie

7. Blackdaddy

8. Robert Brown

9. Roger Sandgren

10. Cavagna Ottavio

11. Nahoj Sennah

12. Rosario Campione

13. Lukas Ondrousek

14. Francois Spenard

15. Rarindra Prakarsa

16. Kevin Temple

17. Rachel Jacklyn Bilodeau

18. Delbert

19. Irene Müller

20. Niek Haak

21. Mutrus

22. Crossie

23. Porg

24. Snailfan Man

25. La Vita A Bella

26. Dannie Tj. – 李泉亮

27. Prokyron

28. Dingodave

29. Werol

30. Szmytke

There are so many photography enthusiasts these days than film photography days. Although film vs digital photography is still debatable, it’s very much obvious that digital photography is aggressively trying to take over film. But a lot of old school photo hobbyists are reassuring that film is definitely here to stay. And whether you are into film or digital photography, you still need post processing at one point in time. Post processing is one of the most important aspects of digital photography; it is just as important as the photo shoot itself. And ever since I featured one of our popular post here about photography, the “10 Tutorials on How to Create Stunning HDR (High Dynamic Range) Images“, I got lots of questions and requests for information about post-processing. So I gathered some of the most popular and useful Photoshop post processing techniques around and featured them all here today. Scroll down and hopefully you find the technique you’re looking for to achieve the kind of result you really want.

1. Adobe Camera RAW for Beginners: Basic Adjustments

PhotoTuts+ has lots of post processing tutorials. I have selected and featured some from them, and to start it off we have Adobe Camera RAW’s basic adjustment tutorial. In this screencast we look at some of the basic adjustments and how they work. Some adjustments work independently while others work best when used together.

2. Quick & Flexible Photo Colour Manipulation

Another great video tutorial from PhotoTut+, in this tutorial we look at a quick, simple and very flexible way to manipulate colour within an image. We’re focusing upon two example photographs to demonstrate the effect.

3. Black and White Photoshop Conversion Techniques

And last one from PhotoTuts+. In this article we run through the most commonly used black and white conversion methods, outlining the pros and cons of each. Instructions are provided for Photoshop CS and if the technique’s available, Photoshop Elements.

4. Image Retouching: Advanced Skin Softening

In this article from photo.net’s Digital Photography Workflow Series, Jean-Sébastien offers advice on how to achieve skin softening using low and high pass filtering. The article is enhanced with illustrative figures and screen shots, and includes example images from Jean’s portfolio. Whether you are just entering the world of digital photography and need some tips and advice on how best to post-process your images, or are a seasoned pro, the insights shared here should be helpful with your own digital post-processing techniques.

5. Exposure Blending Turorial

I don’t want to feature another HDR tutorial this time, but I just can’t help not to include this one to demonstrate simple blending of multiple exposures to create stunning HDR effects.

6. Quick Selective Sharpening Technique In Photoshop CS3/CS4

A very quick tutorial on selective sharpening technique for Photoshop CS3/4. Now you can apply sharpening only where it is needed, such as eyes and hair, and leave skin textures alone. Covers use of layers, selective sharpening techniques, portrait, retouching, filters, brushes, masks, groups, photoshop.

7. Noise Reduction by Image Averaging

Image noise can compromise the level of detail in your digital or film photos, and so reducing this noise can greatly enhance your final image or print. This tutorial compares a couple common methods for noise reduction, and also introduces and demonstrates an alternative technique: averaging multiple exposures to reduce noise. Image averaging is common in high-end astrophotography, but is arguably underutilized for other types of low-light and night photography.

8. Lens Correction Filter in Photoshop

Learn lens correction filter in Photoshop to be able to repair all kinds of distortions. Not only can it remedy the bulging created by a wide-angle lens, and the weird distortion created by taking a photo too close to subject, but it can also straighten images taken at angles and make them appear as if they were shot straight on.

9. Add Dynamic Lighting to a Flat Photograph

Learn from this tutorial how to spice up a fairly dull and flat photograph. It’s very easy and fast! Go from flat photo to a uniquely lit style.

10. How to Effectively Use Contrast, Auto Levels, and Batch Processing

This tutorial will show you a way of safely using Auto Levels and a better way to adjust the contrast. All this can be built into an Action Script that can be turned into a droplet for drag and drop batch processing.

11. Quick Tip: Color Correction in Photoshop with the Curves Adjustment Tool

One of the most important and useful image correction tool we use in Photoshop is the Curves Adjustment tool, it  not only helps us in creating desired contrast, but at the same time it allows us to color correct our images. This is another tutorial from PsdTuts+ that will teach you how to use this tool to color correct photos efficiently.

12. Photo Enhancing Using Dragan and David Hill Effects

Here’s a good one created by Erwin Lazaro at The Digital Photographer Philippines forum. This tutorial is a fusion of Dragan Effect using burning and dodging and Dave Hill Effect using some High Pass and Adjustment Layers.

A lot of people are into photography these days. I myself have been recently bitten by the photography bug and would also like to have a photo blog soon. Looking around for some inspiring photo blogs, I came across a dozen free but premium looking photo blog WordPress themes. Which inspired me even more to start a photo blog.

These maybe few but I hope you find something suitable if you are also looking to start your own photo blog or if you just want a new theme for an existing one. If you also happen to know similarly free stunning photo blog WordPress themes that are not included in this list, you are most welcome to share it with us by mentioning about it in your comments. Enjoy!

1. Fotofolio

A very simple and easy to use free wordpress template designed for online portfolios of photographers, visual artists, graphic designers, etc. Fotofolio is created by Pupung Budi Purnama. Fotofolio is released under Creative Common Licence.

Demo
Download Theme
Download PSD Logo

2. Viewport

A simple 1 column WordPress theme by Paulicio at New WP Themes.

Demo
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3. The Unstandard

Simple yet cutting edge design created by Derek Punsalan of 5ThirtyOne. This WordPress theme has 3 columns and 3 widget zones.

Demo
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4. Autofocus 1.0.1

A simple yet elegant theme for photo blogs created by Allan Cole.

Demo
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5. Going Pro Gallery Theme

A gallery theme with clean table like design created by Alexandru Negrea for Going Pro.

Demo
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6. Photo Blog theme from WPGlamour

An eye-catching photo blog theme with single column from WP Glamour.

Demo
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7. Aperio

Stylish and pretty photo blog theme created by Robert Ellis of Futurosity.

Demo
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8. Folio Elements

This is a very basic WordPress theme with a clean and efficient design intended to put your best content forward in a way that is enticing and fun for the user.

Demo
Download link

9. Gallery WordPress Theme by Chris Wallace

Gallery is a beautiful showcase-style WordPress theme created by Chris Wallace, built on the Thematic framework as a child theme.

Demo
Download Gallery 1.2.1
Download Thematic 0.9.5

10. Galleria WordPress Photo Blog Theme

Beautiful grungy looking 2 columns, fixed-width with threaded comments free theme for photo blog or online portfolio.

Demo
Download theme

11. Professor – Free Photo Blog WordPress Theme

Professor may not be designed specifically as a photo blog but this brown-tinged, two-column WordPress theme displays images with such elegance and clarity that probably makes me include it among the top 12 photo blog theme favorites.

Download theme for WordPress 2.3
Download theme for WordPress 2.5

Also Available in Blue Professor variant.

12. Photography

And last but not the least, a free theme called Photography. It may sound generic but design wise, it looks top-notch elegant and not far from any premium magazine or photo gallery themes around. It is a widget ready theme that can effectively showcase your portfolio or photo gallery.

Demo
Download link

I have been fascinated lately on how beautiful these HDR images are. So I took  time to gather some of the best HDR tutorials around to learn more about the techniques used in this interesting photo artistry.

1. Merging HDR in Photoshop CS3 Tutorial from Photoshopcafe.com

This tutorial will teach you how to shoot, merge and tone-map photos to extend the dynamic range and produce those painted looking results.

2. How to create HDR photos with free Qtpfsgui and GIMP from Design live

Now here’s a nice one for users of free and open source softwares Qtpfsgui and Gimp. It also include a simple technique in faking HDR effect using curves.

3. HDR tutorial from a travel photography blog Stuck in Customs

This is one comprehensive tutorial from a real HDR pro using Photomatix and Photoshop. Trey Ratcliff, a seasoned photographer and author of this blog, also authored and published a new book called “A World in HDR” featuring so many stuff about HDR including hundreds of his own gorgeous HDR photos. This tutorial also includes a downloadable pdf version.

4. Tone Mapping HDR tutorial from Second Picture

This HDR tutorial effectively demonstrates HDR using tone mapping in Photomatix Pro 3.0.

5. HDR Tutorial from dannorcott.co.uk

An easy, straight-forward tutorial on how to create HDR photos using Photomatix Pro by HDRsoft.

6. HDR Tutorial with Photoshop post processing techniques from thinsite.net

Another easy to follow HDR tutorial from capturing HDR shots, to Photomatix, to post-processing using Photoshop.

7. HDR Tutorial by Markus Linke

This tutorial explains several ways to capture HDR shots and how to create beautiful high dynamic range HDR-pictures using Photomatix and Photoshop.

8. Photomatix Pro HDR tutorial from Before the Coffee

A highly detailed and informative tutorial on HDR using Photomatix Pro.

9. HDR Tutorial Guide from Vanilla Days

Another comprehensive guide on HDR authored by an extraordinary photographer and HDR expert Pete Carr.

10. Single Image HDR Creation from Beyond Pixels

And finaly, a tutorial on how to create a well cooked HDR using just a single image.

That’s it. I hope you get the most out of all those HDR tutorials to create your own stunning HDR images. You are also welcome to showcase your own HDR photos. Just include the links to your images in your comment.