Happy trails, Class of 2023! You’ve finished your essays and had all your tests graded, and now you’re one of the over 4 million students in the US about to graduate. But first, you’ll definitely take some pictures. Posing with your cap and gown is about as traditional as the ceremony itself! Wondering what to do with graduation photos after? Read on!

1. Use as Headshots for a Resume

In addition to the pictures with the diploma and cap and gown, many seniors are photographed in their professional attire (dress or suit) under the gown as well as well. This is a great opportunity to get some headshots to share on your resume or online LinkedIn profile. After all, you’ll have to start job hunting soon—might as well be one step ahead! You’ll look confident and ready for what the world has in store for you.

2. Make Grad Party Invitations

Having a graduation party? If so, you’ll need to send out invites—and we don’t mean a text message! There are many sites on the web that allow you to custom make party invitations, and what better way to showcase your accomplishment than an invite featuring a photo of you with your diploma? Rather than a card that simply gets ignored or lost in the mail, your party invitations will stand out. Might even help you get some more of those coveted grad gifts!

3. Brag Online

Admit it—it’s what we all do! So do it with pride, and post your fabulous graduation photos to social media. You achieved something huge, and you deserve to be celebrated for it. Your grad pictures will look great on Instagram or Facebook, whether you have an account with thousands of followers or a private one for just your close friends. So what if everyone else is sharing too? There’s more than enough room for everyone!

4. Upload and Store on ImageCoast

Want to try something a little different? Here’s a secret— ImageCoast is the best free image hosting site out there. We might be biased, but it’s true. You can save and share all your graduation pictures online, completely free—and if you want more options, we’ve got those too! Here, you can store all your pictures, from headshots to invites, for your own personal use or to send to your family. Get started with ImageCoast today—and congratulations, grad!

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Capture a Funny Face

Most pets are adorable, sure. But you know what makes them different? The look on their face! Maybe it’s a surprisingly human dog raising her eyebrows, or a Guinea pig that looks like he’s going to sternly give you detention. Without shoving your camera into their face (and by investing in a good zoom lens) get a shot that focuses on your pet’s facial features, from their eyes, nose, and mouth. Who knows, maybe they’ll be the next meme that’ll stay in everyone’s phone storage for years to come!

Dress Them Up

Let’s be real—nothing is funnier than a pet in a costume. Bonus points if it’s for an event other than Halloween! Have your pooch celebrate Christmas in an ugly sweater, or put a mini grad cap on your parakeet. Perhaps they’ll enjoy their new look! Or, more likely, they’ll look into your camera in exasperation, making for a hilarious photo to share online.

Give Them Love

Even if your cats are the kind who keep to themselves, showing them some attention is a great way to melt hearts for a photograph. (Though it is something you should be doing all the time, too!) Scratch your kitty’s chin and see her eyes close in happiness, and you’ll practically be able to hear the purring through the image. Or throw a ball to your dog, and film him jumping in the air to gleefully catch it, tail wagging. You can then edit your video online to make a photo that is genuine and ready to share.

Whether you have more photos of your pets than your kids or you’re just diving into the world of sharing pet pictures, ImageCoast is the best way to host all your images online. And it’s free, so you can take and store as many cutesy pictures as your heart desires!  

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Keep it natural.

No couple wants to look stiff like two teenagers posing before prom. Advise your subjects to loosen up as best they can. Make them laugh with a quick joke, or remind them about a happy moment in their relationship. They’ll gaze adoringly at each other and enjoy one another’s company, which will be seen in your photo. When you share photos online, you can avoid any comments of “cringey” couples on what can be seen as a sappy holiday.

Choose a festive location for Valentine’s Day.

Though not as bright as Christmas, Valentine’s Day is still abundant with color and cheer. Check out a local restaurant to see white tablecloths and candles. Perhaps you can visit a bar filled with paper hearts and Cupids. This will make your photograph evident of a couple spending a special day together rather than any old date night.

February also means winter weather, perhaps more so than November or December. Have your subjects bundle up for a snowball fight or draw hearts in the snow. Check out our Winter Photography article for more tips.

Utilize warm colors.

Even if your couple doesn’t want to go out for the evening, you can still have hints of St. Valentine in their looks. Have them wear red, white, or pink and focus on the blush in the cheeks from the winter cold. This will help them commemorate the holiday in a way that is subtle, but effective. A warm color scheme can be festive enough for public or private photo sharing.

Ready to show off your happy couples? Upload to ImageCoast so you can have a portfolio for other clients. You can also have storage space and a gallery to organize your fabulous work. 

It truly is the best place for free online image hosting this Valentine’s Day and every day thereafter.

The post <strong>How to Take the Best Couples’ Photos for Valentine’s Day</strong> appeared first on blog.imagecoast.com.

Before you embark on sleepless nights watching the night sky from behind a lens, let’s first understand what Astrophotography is and how it works.

What Is Astrophotography?

Google’s English Dictionary defines Astrophotography as the use of photography in astronomy. It’s a rather vague and incomplete definition. While photographic techniques are essential to astronomical imaging, Astrophotography isn’t solely for astronomy.

Astrophotography is like a piece of poetry out of the writer’s control. It’s the art of capturing celestial events, which you might not understand but are still wowed by.

For beginners, Astrophotography might seem much slower than other photography niches besides wildlife photography. That’s normal. The night sky is sometimes less enigmatic than it is in the movies. On most nights, you might have to wait for that beautiful piece of a constellation to show up.

Along with the patience needed for Astrophotography, here is a brief list of the most crucial things you’d need to get started as an Astro photographer..

Astrophotography Cameras

Astrophotographers can’t use just any camera. They need Mirrorless or DSLR cameras to take a professional shoot.

Digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLR) use the conventional analog camera tech, which imitates the human eye when processing light, while mirrorless cameras take a more digital approach.

Both cameras are great for Astrophotography. Still, the DSLR cameras might be the perfect beginner’s tool if you’re not looking to achieve speed during a shoot.

Telescopes

Do you want to take deep astrophotography photos? If yes, you’d need a telescope. Telescopes are magnifiers best used for stargazing and exceptionally great for hunting celestial events. Having a telescope that can be easily attached to a camera is crucial. Here’s a list of decent telescopes under $500.

Zoom Lenses

Zoom lenses are the magic of detailed photography. These gadgets allow astrophotographers to look deep into the soul of heavenly bodies to find that detail concealed within the focal lengths of wide-angle and telephoto.

Image Hosting Sites

An image hosting site is an essential tool for all photographers. Even better is an image hosting site serving as a storage space, gallery, and portfolio you can showcase on a whim. ImageCoast is that hosting site every photographer should have, and here’s why.

The post <strong>A Beginner’s Guide to Astrophotography</strong> appeared first on blog.imagecoast.com.

Here are some common mistakes you must avoid if you want to be a successful food photographer.

Are You Using Fresh Ingredients?

You are absolutely wrong if you think using old and decolored lettuce won’t be an issue because you can adjust the saturation by editing. Never use bruised or old ingredients, thinking you would cover it up with the editing or angles. It doesn’t work most of the time.

As a professional photographer, make sure all the items in the picture are fresh and in the best condition.

Are You Taking Photos From Only One Angle?

It is great that you have selected a pattern for your Instagram and are sticking to that, but always taking pictures from one angle might not be a good idea. For example, you can take a great shot of the pizza from an upside-down shot, but you won’t be able to capture the beauty of a burger from this angle.

So, don’t stick to a particular angle. Instead, try different ideas and patterns to bring diversity to your portfolio.

Are You Playing With Saturation A Little Too Much?

The more lively the colors, the more delicious the food will look. It is what photographers usually believe. It is true to some extent, but too much saturation can make your pictures look weird and unrealistic.

So, make sure you are editing the pictures realistically and not adding too much saturation.

Are You Paying Attention To The Props?

Props act like a background in food photography; one has to make sure the background is worth it. Don’t add random props to your pictures; use them to narrate a story. Also, don’t stress too much about props.

Remember, the main focus of your photos is your food. Use neutral tones for the props, so they don’t snatch the spotlight from your food items.

Looking For an Image Hosting Website for Your Food Photography? Try Image Coast

Food photographers understand the importance of maintaining the quality of their pictures. Are you struggling with this issue because of the limited storage of your devices? Are you a beginner who cannot invest much in different devices?

Image Coast can help you host your pictures in high quality and let you share them with your friends, add them to auction listings, and for other online purposes.

The post What Are The Common Mistakes All Food Photographers Make? appeared first on blog.imagecoast.com.

Why Do You Need An Imgur Alternative?

Imgur has been ruling the image-hosting industry for quite a while now, and the hype is still there. It is free and allows you to upload images without creating an account. However, it lacks some much-needed features. Here are some restrictions you are likely to face with Imgur.

Image Compression

It also makes you very limited in your picture’s size while retaining the best quality. It compresses the size of images larger than 1 MB, and you lose the original quality of the picture, which can be a pretty disturbing thing for professional photographers.

Loss of Ownership

When you upload any picture on Imgur, you lose its authority. Hundreds of pictures are uploaded daily on Imgur, so even if you need to claim any right to it, you are not allowed to do so.

Ads

If you are looking for an ad-free platform for sharing and uploading your images, Imgur is not the one unless you pay for it. Furthermore, the person viewing the content you shared will also experience ads every now and then.

No Editing Features

Imgur lacks editing features, so if you want to crop or edit any picture, you must do it on another platform before uploading it on Imgur, which might be a bit inconvenient.

What Is The Best Imgur Alternative?

When it comes to premium image hosting services, Image Coast is an ideal option to consider. It offers both lite and platinum hosting plans for your photographs, representing free and paid options. The best thing is that even if you opt for the free option, you still have tons of features to enjoy. Moreover, it allows you to edit your pictures and provide incredible storage space of up to 100-10000MB. The maximum size of the picture ranges from 1024k-10,240k in lite plan and platinum mode, respectively.

You can upload images in both paid and free accounts in jpeg, png, and gif format. Since you have to create an account before uploading, you don’t lose your ownership. So, if you are looking for the best Imgur alternative, Image Coast can be a great option.

The post The Best Imgur Alternative In 2022 appeared first on blog.imagecoast.com.

What is creative photography?

Creative photography is less of a niche and more of an approach to photography. Usually, we’d say creative photography is a field that uses photography skills to create art through the manipulation of basic elements like lights, colors, shapes, and depths. That’s a little too definitive.

Here’s a more flexible definition. Creative photography is the creation of a uniqueness that sets your photo apart from traditional photography. In other words, make magical and awe-inspiring art. Now, creativity is an innate trait, but if you don’t feel like a born creative, you can learn to ignite the artistic fire.

How do you make creative photos?

Making creative photos isn’t one-way street traffic. Sometimes it’s about making your imaginations into real images, and other times you just let your workflow inspire as you go. Again, creative photography is about creating unique art, so taking pictures of a face staring into your camera lens isn’t very impressive or artistic. What if you added a streak of rainbow light across that face? Or you could go monochrome and add a touch of blue to the eyes.

There are many ways to go about creative photography. You could let time and circumstances dictate your creativity, or you can get intentional with creating art via organic compositions. There’s also a post-shoot option—photo editing software is invaluable for adding distinctive details.

Do creative photos have to be poetic?

Being a creative photographer doesn’t necessarily mean you have to make poetic photographs, although that’d be nice. However, it should be enough that your work sparks up or appeals to people’s imaginations.

How can you boost your creativity?

Different things work for other people. Taking photographs as often as possible is one of the most creative boosters known to photographers. If you can’t carry your camera everywhere, it’s time to put your iPhone camera to use.

Also, make sure to switch scenery too. You can move around different locations at different periods. Note how sunrise and sunset affect shadows, highlights, and depths. And if nothing seems creative anymore, take a step back, and when you go back to photographing, don’t say no to something new.

Photographers are creatives trying to connect with the world through their lenses. ImageCoast can make that connection even more bliss and simple. Take hold of our image hosting services today.

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Photography is an intricate form of art that comes with lots of technicalities. And it’s only natural that most photographers concern themselves mainly with such technicalities. However, here is something less technical about photography; its underrated relationship with music.

The music-making process is quite similar to taking photographs. Both creatives are looking for the right rhythm, the best note, or, as it applies to photography, the appropriate shades of colors.

The logic here is that photographers and musicians are masters at paying attention to detail while letting the art take control. Music makers are effortlessly pulled into their craft once they start working, while photographers tend to need some extra motivation. Interestingly, music could be all the motivation they need.

Learning to paint mental images out of a music piece has proven efficient in firing up photographers’ creativity. Of course, this isn’t a one-fix fit, but one lifestyle change you might have to make is appreciating the slightest bits in a music piece and letting your imagination do the rest.

Another lifestyle change you might need to make is moving a lot. Wildlife and landscape photographers are highly dependent on their subjects. The best of their subjects are not abundant in cities, so they have to move to their natural habitats.

Moving in search of awe-inspiring mountain peaks, waterfalls, a flock of birds, and tree alignment is a must-do for wildlife and landscape photographers. Nevertheless, these categories of photographers need to have a natural connection with their subjects and have a fascination for Mother Nature.

What if this fascination isn’t one of your innate traits?

That doesn’t necessarily mean you still can’t make a good wildlife or landscape photographer. You can always learn to develop some fondness for your subjects. Research them, and pay attention to their qualities.

And what do you do if you have a job that overwhelms your photography career?

That’d be tough to juggle. Still, what if you don’t have to be physically present in your workspace to get the jobs done. If you could be efficient as a remote worker, then it’s probably time you have that talk with your boss.

Photography is an open field of limitless opportunities. Sometimes you might have to make certain lifestyle changes to get them, and other times you’re just a part of a natural selection for photography. Whatever you do, do not forget to share your work. Try ImageCoast It’s simple and efficient. And, if you want to learn more about a photographer’s lifestyle, you are where you need to be.

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Before you store your photography in any format, you need to know the specifications. Otherwise, you might end up losing or damaging data.

Types of Image Formats

JPEG

JPEG, one of the most frequently used image formats, is famous for the convenience it offers. However, there is a downside to this popular file type, which is low quality. The more changes you make, the more its quality is degraded.

Usage: JPEG is an ideal choice for sharing files. Because of their compressed nature, they load quickly. An amazing benefit of using JPEG is it will never be deemed unacceptable.

As mentioned, JPEG is one of the most common file types, which means almost every device and application supports it.

TIFF

TIFF is one of the most high-quality image formats. However, in contrast with JPEG, it takes a lot of space. Due to the large file size, it is usually inconvenient for web usage.

One advantage of TIFF over JPEG is that it doesn’t degrade the quality of the image with every minor change.

Usage: The most common usage of TIFF includes printing. Other than printing, you can also use TIFF files for long-term storage.

PNG

PNG is also a lossless format like TIFF used by 79.8% of websites. One of the best features of PNG is that it supports a transparent background. In file types like JPEG, you are confined to a solid background, which makes your choices limited.

Usage: The most common use of PNG is for logos and infographics. They can help you make the graphics clean and sharp.

RAW

As the name suggests, the RAW format is the original file. It is the unprocessed information, which you take straight out of the camera without any changes. Though RAW files might not look promising at first sight, there is a lot of space for editing.

Usage: Professional photographers can capture the moments in RAW and then edit them without any limitations. Consequently, it will be easy for them to correct their mistakes.

Looking for Storage Solutions!?

All these image formats have their pros and cons. However, one hurdle that hinders your way in every choice you make is storage.

Skip the hassle of compressing your images because of storage issues and use ImageCoast for advanced image hosting.

The post 4 Common Types of Image Formats Explained appeared first on blog.imagecoast.com.

So, here we handpicked the 3 best photography competitions you should consider participating in in 2022. Know about the eligibility criteria, deadlines, entry fees, awards, and more. 

ND Awards

Deadlines– April 24, 2022 (early deadline) and September 18, 2022 (final deadline)

Who can participate?

Different categories for professional and non-professional photographers

Entry fee for non-professionals-

$15 for a single image and $20 for series entry up to 5 images (early deadline)

$20 for a single image and $25 for series entry up to 5 images (final deadline)

Entry fee for professionals-

$20 for a single image and $25 for series entry up to 5 images (early deadline)

$25 for a single image and $30 for series entry up to 5 images (early deadline)

Additional $10 to be paid per category for multiple category entries

Basically, the Natural Density Photography Award is one of the most prestigious competitions with international recognition. ND magazine was first published in 2008 to promote photography and also to create a platform for sharing knowledge and creativity. In addition, the first edition of the ND award was organized in 2014. The jury committee also includes the gallery owners, editor, acclaimed photographers, and other experts in the field. There are five categories for amateur photographers-

• Fine Art
• Nature
• Architecture
• People
• Special.

In addition, professional photographers can participate in one additional category named Editorial.  

International Photography Awards

Deadline- May 31, 2022

Who can participate? 

Professional, amateur, and also student photographers.

Entry fee for students-

$15 for a single image and $30 for series entry up to 9 images 

Entry fee for non-professionals-

$25 for a single image and $50 for series entry up to 9 images 

Entry fee for professionals-

$35 for a single image and $60 for series entry up to 9 images 

A 20% discount is applied to each additional category for multiple category entries. However, participants from a few countries can have a 30% discount on the entry fee.

IPA is one of the most ambitious and highest-paying photography contests in the world. The International Photography Award is awarded by Lucie Foundation, a non-profit charitable foundation. 

Basically, the main award for the professionals is named International Photographer of the Year. In addition, the cash prize for this category is $10,000. Also, the highest prize for the non-professional and student category is titled Discovery of the year and the cash prize is $5,000. The winners also receive a travel allowance for attending the prestigious award ceremony organized in New York.

Both professionals and amateurs can participate in 13 categories including:

• Fashion
• Beauty
• Food
• Music
• Product
• Fine Art
• Portrait
• Landscape
• Others.  

Monochrome Photography Award

Deadlines– July 3, 2022 (early deadline) and November 13, 2022 (final deadline)

Who can participate?

Professional as well as non-professional photographers

Entry fee for non-professionals-

$15 for the early deadline and $20 for the final deadline (single entry)

Entry fee for professionals-

$20 for the early deadline and $25 for the final deadline (single entry)

Basically, this is a specialized photography competition that celebrates the fascinating art form of Black and White photography. They also accept tones like sepia of selenium. As a result, the contest aims to collectively share knowledge and nurture the best artists. Above all, the winner of the professional section receives a $2,000 cash prize and the title of Monochrome Photographer of the year. Whereas, the non-professional section’s winner receives a $1,000 cash prize and the title of Monochrome Discovery of the Year. Participants can also submit their entries in 13 categories including:

• Architecture
• Fashion
• Fine Art
• Landscape
• Nature
• Wildlife
• Street
• Portrait
• Conceptual
• Abstract
• Nude
• Photojournalism
• Photo manipulation

So, send your work to any or all these competitions and get the recognition you deserve.
You can also get photography tips only by following us at ImageCoast.com.

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