This month the word is "Luminance." It's the intensity or brightness of a light source. But it's also a photo-editing technique that we can use to hide the grain in our images and create a softening effect.


The photographers of the day that have been featured for the past month at CRPhotography are listed below. If you'd like to see yourself featured, or a friend, send us a note!



The Valentine Heart Contest has had an amazing response and ended yesterday. The winners will be announced shortly. Congratulations to everyone who entered a photograph (or more!) because the efforts were amazing. Below are some photography contests on DeviantArt which are still ongoing - check them out and participate for some great prizes!
The DA 52 week Photography Challenge: don't miss this great opportunity to participate to this 2015 contest, where once a week, a new challenge is set up in order for photographs to get exposure and points, but moreover to have fun and shoot! Check out the first of this year and search for the one currently on going!
Weather in focus Photo contest is open until March 31rst, 2015 and is open to any fellow deviant and around the world photographers.
Purple Contest: This contest is open to ALL artistic mediums and is open until April 15, 2015. Check out the details and submit your work to the journal!
Still-Life-Stills holds a monthly challenge, head over to the group for the chance to win some prizes this time around.
Abstract-and-Surreal also holds a monthly challenge with the chance to win prizes, check out the group for the latest news!


We have welcomed Mrs-Durden to the General Photography team this month! Mrs-Durden is working on the galleries that are not covered by existing community volunteers. Head over to her page for her guidelines and start sending Daily Deviation suggestions her way! Remember to not send the same suggestion to multiple CVs though.

In order to highlight more deviants and their fantastic photography we have started another interview series at CRPhotography. If you'd like to be interviewed and have your work showcased just note Kaz-D. In the meantime check out the latest articles which focus on Marloeshi -  Meet Marloeshi - and Mieps the Guinea Pig! and JenFruzz - Meet JenFruzz!

Community Volunteer justanothersomeone

Photographer Rainer Torrado made an interesting project in which he photographed neon signs in a very unusual and abstract way, you can find out more about his project here. justanothersomeone has looked at some interesting Surrealistic images this month in his article exploring Anthropomorphism and you can read about his January Daily Deviations here.

Community Volunteers Kaz-D, 3wyl and Mrs-Durden

Quite a bit has been shared this past month regarding Animals, Plants and Nature. Firstly check out Anoya's ongoing features looking at Daily Deviations that have been suggested to her in the past. The latest article is here. Also JenFruzz has been focusing on Animals, Plants and Nature in her article series called APN Adventures. And finally, Backyard Shooters friday feature shows some beautiful works from the APN galleries. Have a look here.

Community Volunteer Nyx-Valentine

*Our Artistic Nude section will often contain something that's Not Safe for Work (NSWF)*
If you're looking for a beautiful Artistic Nude feature with some really stunning captures then look no further than ZephyraMilie's latest blog. Elsewhere on the Internet there has been a great response to a photography series by Nadia Lee Cohen which showcases, quite literally, 100 naked women. Check it out here. And, controversely, an Iranian Actress has been exiled from her home country for posing naked..! Check out a fabulous interview from Mrs-Durden - Flesh and Bone: Beneath the skin with Alan-H-Bruce

Community Volunteers Kaz-D, 3wyl and Mrs-Durden

On DeviantArt if you are looking for some conceptual photography inspiration then look no further than MarinaCoric's Conceptual Spotlight article the latest of which can be read right here. And also InsomniaDoodles has been collecting Conceptual works for a feature so if you're interested in getting your work featured then pop over and check out the latest article here.

Community Volunteer Pixel-Spotlight

Check out Mrs-Durden's fashion roundup here and one of the latest editions of Fashion Makes the World go Round.

Community Volunteer DistortedSmile

Check out the January Pin-Up and Glamour DDs from DistortedSmile.

Community Volunteer MarcosRodriguez

Marcos has posted his Macro Spotlight again which focuses on some great macro photographs. Check it out here. You can also find his Daily Deviation roundup here. The Valentines Macro Contest has closed and results will be announced soon. Keep an eye out here.

Community Volunteers Kaz-D, 3wyl and Mrs-Durden

Be sure to have a look at this interview with the german portrait photographer Martin Schoeller. Also check out these fairy tale inspired portraits by the ukranian photographer Anita Anti.
Have a look to this
portfolio presenting french Harcourt studio photos, so famous for their typical light management and scenery.

Community Volunteer tanikel

The winners of the World Press Photo 2015 have been announced. You can find the winning photos and the stories behind them here. As part of Art History at projecteducate, photo-journalism was a focus article on our 'Photography Day.' For a bit of the history of photo-journalism check out the article here.

Community Volunteers Kaz-D, 3wyl and Mrs-Durden

Over at Still-Life-Stills the monthly contests are still ongoing. Head over to check out how you can get involved and be in with the chance of winning something this month. The recipe challenge is on hold due to slow take up, but we'll hopefully bring that back in the next few months. The latest edition of Nom Nom, a food photography feature, has been posted and can be read here. Also JenFruzz has posted a journal focusing on still life and the theme of 'Transfixed.' Check it out here.

Community Volunteers Kaz-D, 3wyl and Mrs-Durden

Check out this tribute to Vivian Maiers's street photography. You'll find here a link to an interview of Iain, Anderson, Australian street photographer, whose vision and shots are particular, and amazing.
On the same blog, you'll find an interesting video interview of the founder of the Street Photography London Collective. Don't miss this tribute to Raymond Depardon, french artist, movie director, and photographer (with a gift for street photography).
If you don't know about him, visit Johnny Stiletto's site, and an interesting article about his work here.

Community Volunteers Kaz-D, 3wyl and Mrs-Durden

The latest edition of Urbex has been released and this month has focused on Staircases. Things of such beauty but that are often abandoned without a thought and forgotten. Check out the article here. If you'd like to see a topic or some of your own work featured as part of the series just note Kaz-D and I will see what I can do!


We're encouraging you to share your 'hacks' for creating cheaper DIY photography tools or capturing awesome photos with handy hints or tips. Note CRPhotography if you have a 'hack' for next month! There are some other fabulous journals that have recently been posted and focus on educational information...

10 valuable lessons about street photography
Kevin Kertz'lighting setup is for photoshop users and portraits photographers a very complete tool allowing to make ligthing sketches of studio portraits. A very great tool to use!
Theory: Understanding histograms in photography link
Theory: Zone system applied to digital photography link
Theory: The basics of ND Filters link
Theory: what's color grading about? link
Theory: camera resolution explained link
Theory: a guide to image sharpening link
Theory: focusing modes of your camera (and how to use them) link
LR: Tips to manage thousands of photos link
LR: Tip to quickly review an image ad 1:1 with Lightroom link
LR: How to create effective presets for your workflow link
LR: How to make landscape photos pop link
LR: A sharpening workflow link
Gear: How to choose a monitor for photography link
Gear: ...and how to calibrate it link
Gear: the proper way to attach your camera strap link
Gear: Phase Fresnel and DO lenses, how to shorten a telephoto lens link
DIY: A floor plate tripod for extremely low angle photography link
What causes noise? And how can you remove it form your images? Find that out in this useful overview about noise
Add Sparking Bokeh to your still life photographs!
Lens Diffraction understand it to find your lens' sweet spot


Canon finally announced their new high megapixel camera, the successor of the Canon 5D Mark III with 50.6 megapixel, as well as some more new cameras and a new lens. Check everything out here
The successor of the popular wide angle lens Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 is now available for preorder. Have a look at the new Tokina 11-20mm f/2.8 here
Sigma added a new lens to their popular Art line: the Sigma 24mm f/1.4
Is this the new possible alternative for photoshop? Read more about the new software called Affinity Photo here


Canon 50mm f/1.4 or 50mm f/1.8 ?
Photographing at an Aquarium
Expensive vs Cheap cameras
Infrared Photography Camera
How do you shoot?
To buy a new camera
What is your favourite filter and why?
Nikon Coolpix p600 or Nikon d3200?
Is Fujichrome Velvia worth it?
Watermarks
Your thoughts on portrait photography?
DSLR Alternatives
How do I take good snow pictures?




Thanks to all of our contributors this month - the team at CRPhotography have put this newsletter together for you. If you would like to have something included within it just note the group!