The eight-story building will include dedicated exhibition spaces, permanent facilities to house the collection, a photography bookshop and library, education rooms, museum café and a rooftop restaurant with a panoramic view of the Rotterdam skyline. The acquisition of the new building fulfils the Nederlands Fotomuseum’s longstanding commitment to developing a dynamic meeting place and an international platform for photography.

The acquisition of the new building, which has been made possible by a donation from the philanthropic foundation Droom en Daad, ensures that the Nederlands Fotomuseum will remain in Rotterdam. The opening of the newly renovated warehouse, known as the Santos, is planned for 2025. Until then, the museum will remain open in its current location, the Las Palmas complex.

The nationally listed Santos building is a hidden gem on the Rijnhaven on Katendrecht. Architects J.P. Stok Wzn and J.J. Kanters designed the warehouse on behalf of N.V. Blauwhoedenveem, which opened the doors in 1903 and used it as a warehouse for Brazilian coffee. Since 2012, the German design group stilwerk has been transforming the neglected historical building into an architectural gem.

Above: watch our video guide

Color is obviously a key component in photography, but it’s also a remarkably complex and subtle subject. We’re all attracted by color, but in very different ways at very different times. Color can produce an emotional response, such as the warm colors of an autumnal scene or the bright blue skies of summer. It can also create a strong graphical effect with color contrasts and harmonies.

We all react to color when we take photographs without necessarily realising it, but it can be useful to think about how color works and how we can make the most of it when we’re out taking pictures. For example, more is not always better! A scene packed with every color under the sun, such as an open air market, for example, will not necessarily make a good photograph, and simply turning the color up to maximum either with your Canon EOS camera’s Picture Styles or later in software, will make the colors stronger but won’t necessarily make them better. Colors like to fight for attention, and if you increase the saturation, you’re just increasing the conflict.

It pays to be selective with color, so think about what’s attracting you to a scene, how color is involved and how to make sure that comes across. This can help you decide on the best composition, or what to include and what to leave out, and the best camera settings, particularly white balance which has the effect of making your scenes appear more warm or cool.

Lighting can also have an effect on color. Soft, indirect lighting can often make colors seem richer and stronger, while harsh sunlight and shadows can take away some of their impact.

Below are six different ideas to get you thinking about how you use color in your photographs. A great way to start is to go through your own catalogue of photos and see how they might fit in with these ideas – or whether you have better ones of your own! Either way, it helps build a more subtle understanding of color that will stand you in good stead when you are next out taking pictures. 

1. White balance

Your camera’s auto white balance system tries to correct color casts in pictures. Instead, select a manual white balance preset (‘Daylight’ is the most neutral) to capture colors as they are and not how the camera thinks they should be!

2. Vivid or natural

Stronger colors aren’t always better. If you are shooting a subtle, delicate subject, bumping up the saturation can spoil the effect. This is why Canon cameras (for example) have ‘Faithful’ and ‘Portrait’ Picture Styles to help keep saturation at realistic levels.

3. Contrasting colors

Color contrasts can work really well. The trick is to choose colors which are opposite, or nearly opposite on the color wheel. For example, blue and orange or yellow combos are often found in beach scenes or city lights shot at dusk.

4. Color harmony

The color wheel is a useful tool for picking out contrasting colors, but it can also show harmonious, or ‘analogous’ colors. These are colors next to each other on the color wheel. Autumnal scenes are a classic example, but you can add harmony to portraits with clothing and props.

5. Single colors

You don’t need more than one color in a photograph! Sunset and dusk are great examples. A sunset may only have a single dominant color or two, but can still make a spectacular image. Also look for subjects with just a single color against white or black for a strong contrast too.

6. Enhancing in software

Instead of using your software’s saturation and vibrance sliders, try its HSL controls instead. These will let you target individual colors to shift their hue, saturation and lightness values to make them work better together, whether it’s to boost color contrast or restore subtlety and harmony.

These are the best cameras for portraits and the best portrait photography tips. You might also like the best photo editing software and the best photo-editing laptops.

A new photography exhibition at London’s Tate Modern includes images of monarchs from across the continent, steering away from Western imagery.

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Photographers are on a quest to take the perfect picture. Like the mythological grail, it’s an elusive thing but worthy of pursuit, nonetheless. If you want to achieve it, there are seven challenges you must overcome along the way.

The UK, where I live, like every other country, has its share of myths and legends. Stories surround our mysterious stone circles and ancient buildings. The Quest for the Holy Grail is a good tale that has provided people with entertainment for over a millennium. As a child, it, along with the legend of Robin Hood, captured my imagination.

Such stories appeal to us because we can relate to the characters with their flaws and strengths. We face obstacles in our lives too. Like all great myths, the Holy Grail is also an allegory about how we should meet those challenges and aim for something spectacular.

Although Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chrétien de Troyes, and Thomas Malory would never have dreamed of photography, there is wisdom in those stories that we can use when trying to take the perfect photo. Like all great quests, there are challenges along the way that we must overcome.

1. A Lack of Objectives Gets You Nowhere

Every great story is appealing because it has a target that the protagonist is trying to achieve.

For King Arthur, it was, among other things, the quest for the Holy Grail. George Smiley’s quest was to outwit the antagonist spy Karla. Meanwhile, Frodo Baggins aimed to destroy a ring and thus defeat the dark lord, Sauron, Don Quixote wanted to become a knight and restore chivalry, and Luke Skywalker sought to defeat the evil Galactic Empire.

We are hurt by stories where the goals are not achieved, and the protagonists fail; I was devastated as a young teenager the first time I reached the end of Orwell’s excellent Nineteen Eighty-Four, the first book I read with a negative outcome. Tales with an optimistic ending work because there was something for the characters to aim for and achieve. That is a basic human need. An objective is essential for everything we do in life, or else we meander aimlessly and accomplish nothing.

That is true of photography, too. For success, as photographers, we need something to aim for and work towards. Otherwise, our catalog of images becomes an incoherent mess. Our goal could be as simple as creating a collection of photos on a single theme, as I did years ago with the collection of images here. Alternatively, it could be repeatedly trying to capture something elusive. For example, I’m on a quest to capture lightning, something I haven’t yet succeeded in doing.

2. Don’t get Distracted From Your Quest

In some versions of the Holy Grail Quest, Perceval lacks the presence of mind to keep to his task. Instead, he wanders off on distracting adventures.

Sticking to the task is a big challenge I have learned to overcome.

It’s easy to be distracted. Modern technology particularly will draw your attention away from the task at hand. How many hours are wasted scrolling through endless, meaningless Instagram or TikTok reels when they could be honing their photography skills? I’ve found myself doing it and then feeling guilty for wasting my time on addictive, meaningless, unproductive, and forgettable drivel.

When I am writing, I am now very careful when I open a browser to do research. It is so easy to spot a different article or video that is off-topic that leads me to read things that are unrelated to what I am writing about. When editing photos, I refuse to open a browser at all, although the temptation to do so is strong. Similarly, when going on a photo shoot, I now carry solely the equipment I need for the shot I have planned, so as not to be distracted by other subjects.

3. Work Hard and Practice, or Else Lose

The Knights of the Round Table were supposed to have been the best in the land. To become a knight was an honor, and gaining that position needed two things: sufficient wealth and years of training.

As photographers, we are privileged. Although half of the world’s wealth is owned by 1% of the population, if you are reading this and own a smartphone, computer, and camera, then you are in the top 11% of the richest people in the world. Between us, we own 80% of the world’s wealth. It might not always feel like it, but you are wealthier than 89% of humans.

However, being rich enough to own a camera doesn’t make you a photographer, even if you take photos. Like any skill, it takes hard work, practice, and continuous improvement to succeed.

4. Tackling the Barrier of Doubt

King Arthur is often portrayed as a troubled soul, full of self-doubt. It’s another aspect of the story that makes it appealing because nearly all of us doubt our abilities. Even those that seem full of self-confidence are usually putting up a façade.

It’s natural to feel uncertainty about your photography. If you don’t, there is a good chance that you are deluding yourself, and you are not as good as you think.

So long as that doubt doesn’t sink into levels of despair that adversely affect your mental health, being self-critical can motivate you to improve. You haven’t completed the quest of getting the perfect photo, so try again.

5. Not Looking After Yourself

In some versions of the Arthurian stories, wracked with guilt over his love for Queen Guinevere and his betrayal of his friend the King, Sir Lancelot du Lac becomes a hermit monk and fails to maintain his health. The once greatest knight loses everything.

Self-care is hugely essential for creativity. Our minds and bodies are integral parts of each other, and if we are to learn how to take better photos, then we need improving physical and mental well-being. It’s something that is often overlooked but is, nevertheless, important.

Luckily, the act of photography is a way to help improve our health. It gets us outside and moving, it makes us concentrate on creative activity distracting us from our pains, and we succeed by creating an end product: the photograph. All those things are good for our body and mind.

That doesn’t mean that people with physical and mental illnesses cannot be great at creating art; van Gogh is a case in point. But a building positive state of mind, eating well, and exercising makes a positive impact on all aspects of our lives, including photography.

6. Concentrating Too Much on the Technicalities

A mistake many photographers make is concentrating too much on the technical side of photography and not on the content. Your camera, no matter how much of a magical marvel it seems, is not Excalibur. It does not have secret powers. Creating a great image is mostly down to you.

If you have the skills to take a good photo, then you should be able to do so with the cheapest supermarket DSLR. If you don’t have those skills, then wielding the latest flagship camera isn’t going to make you the next big name in photography.

Certainly, having a tool that matches your needs is important; there are photos I take now that would be impossible to achieve with a different make or a cheaper model. Meanwhile, a beginner might find some advanced cameras too complex and daunting, and they will be paying for a lot of features they never need. On the other hand, it is also possible to grow into a camera, so there is an argument against beginners buying the cheapest models. Just as budding artists will do much better with good-quality paints and brushes, a better camera can help a novice take better photos than a cheap, supermarket model.

Being taken in by technical wizardry is a common human fault. Look at how many people are duped by camera marketing departments’ trick of promoting the ongoing race for evermore unnecessary pixels. Moreover, many photographers also get hung up on the camera settings and not on the subject.

But once you have discovered the best camera for you and worked out how to use it, the important things are what you see through the viewfinder and timing the moment you decide to press the shutter button.

7. The Perfect Holy Grail Photograph Is Unobtainable, and That’s Great

Like the Grail was to King Arthur, that perfect photo is unobtainable. That’s a good thing.

Arthurian legend relates that most knights failed in the Quest, but had other important adventures along the way. It was only Galahad who completed the first attempt to find the Grail because he was “pure of heart.” Consequently, on achieving it, he immediately ascended to heaven. (In later stories involving the Fisher King, Perceval also found it, and he died as well.) 

For us, it means that no matter how much we try for that perfect photo, we won’t ever attain it. Although we will have worthwhile successes along the way, it will always be just out of our grasp. But each image we shoot will, nevertheless, take us one step closer to reaching photographic perfection.

Furthermore, do we really want to take the perfect photo? When we reach the top, like Galahad, it might be game over. Just like Galahad’s success was the end of that story, where could we go if we reached the top, other than downwards?

Many people who complete their endeavors suffer severe feelings of anticlimax. All that effort and hard work that got you there is over. It’s a normal reaction to think, “what now?” 

A way to avoid that slump is by anticipating that it will happen to you. What is more, if it does happen, recognize that you have achieved something. Then, celebrate it. Next, reflect on your success and the journey that got you there. But treat that achievement as a milestone, not a destination. Your work’s not over yet.

The quest for the perfect photo is more important than the goal. So, the rewards of your quest arrive along the way, not at the end. You will continue to take ever-better images. Maybe, one day, you’ll shoot the perfect photograph. Keep reaching for it but hope it never happens.

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If you’re a stamp collector, then you know who James Balog is.

Balog, who will be honored at this year’s fourth-annual Boulder Environmental / Nature / Outdoors Film Festival (ENOFF), was the first-ever photographer to be commissioned by the U.S. Postal Service to create a full set of stamps.

Released in 1997, the iconic 15-stamp sheet features photos that Balog captured of animals found on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species list, including stunning portraits of the Florida panther, Hawaiian monk seal and the Wyoming toad.

Unsurprisingly, Balog is not just a hero within the philatelist community — he is also known for his work documenting major global events for some of the top publications in the world, including National Geographic, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. His photography is the star, muse and subject of two award-winning films “Chasing Ice” and “The Human Element.” Balog, the director and founder of the Earth Vision Institute and the Extreme Ice Survey, is also the author of more than nine books depicting crucial ecological issues.

He’s an all-around environmentalist — who just so happens to call Boulder home. A jewel in Boulder’s crown, one could say.

Balog’s name will be attached to yet another achievement — this weekend he will be honored as the inaugural recipient of the Earth Angel award at Boulder ENOFF.

Although Balog has received numerous accolades, including an Emmy Award and a Sundance Award for cinematography, he said that receiving the Earth Angel award remains an honor and a privilege.

“This might be the first time since I was a little boy that anyone has ever called me an angel,” Balog said, laughing. “No, it’s very flattering, and I’m inspired by it, and delighted for it.”

The Earth Angel statuette was created to honor individuals in the community who have demonstrated acute awareness and continued dedication toward the Earth and the environment. Though festival organizers have attempted to hand out this award years prior, the pandemic and other setbacks delayed the ceremonies — until now.

“Balog was the perfect candidate to receive this award, given for the first time,” said Richard Paradise, ENOFF’s festival director. “We’d very much like to make the Earth Angel Award an annual thing, but I couldn’t think of someone better to be the first person at Boulder ENOFF to set the precedent. Balog’s films, especially ‘Chasing Ice,’ are iconic.”

“Chasing Ice” was released in 2012, and was based on Balog’s extensive and groundbreaking research on the planet’s rapidly receding glaciers. Before “Chasing Ice,” Balog’s artistic vehicle was mainly through photography, but then film changed that.

“I wanted to work in a different medium that could touch audiences in a different way,” Balog said. “And really, basically, as I look back over the long arc of my working life — which is now almost 45 years in image making, I’m a storyteller.”

The fourth-annual Boulder ENOFFA kicked off Thursday and will run through Sunday. Balog will be in good company as several directors, cinematographers and fellow storytellers will visit the Dairy Arts Center for a celebration of environmental filmmaking.

Since its inception in 2019, the Boulder ENOFF has showcased films from creators from all over the world, highlighting a number of serious issues facing not just the planet, but humankind as well.

In recent years, Boulder has emerged as an up-and-coming hub for environmental filmmaking, attracting talented filmmakers and enthusiasts from around the world. With its breathtaking natural surroundings and a community deeply committed to environmental stewardship, Boulder provides an ideal backdrop for filmmakers seeking to tell compelling stories about our planet’s challenges and solutions — and Balog agrees.

“There has been a remarkable amount of high-quality documentary filmmaking that has come out of the Denver/Boulder area, considering the size of these towns and the fact that we don’t have a long history of there being a filmmaking community like there is in L.A. or New York,” Balog said. “There has been a lot of good work that’s coming out of this community, and I have been saying to people — there really should be a film about that.”

The Boulder ENOFF perhaps encapsulates that creative filmmaking spirit in the most Boulder way possible — with a film festival that exclusively celebrates love and dedication to the great outdoors.

This year’s lineup consists of more than eight full-length films, as well as several film shorts. From a breathtaking documentary capturing the wonders of Texas’ unique ecosystems in “Deep in the Heart,” to a thought-provoking narrative shedding light on the taboo surrounding nuclear energy in “Nuclear Now,” the festival’s film lineup is carefully curated to captivate and inspire audiences.

Of all the screenings in the lineup, Balog said he is looking forward to seeing one in particular: “Patrick and the Whale,” which will also be featured as the festival’s closing film. Directed by Patrick Dykstra, the gorgeously shot documentary submerges viewers deep into the ocean, where the award-winning marine cameraman Dykstra attempts to understand and befriend the complex creature, the sperm whale.

To check out the entire lineup for the Boulder ENOFF, and to purchase tickets, visit boulderenoff.org.

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See the Comedy Pet Photography Awards finalists

Updated: 11:30 AM EDT Jul 14, 2023

This might put a smile on your face – this year’s finalists for the comedy pet photos.From a cat sneaking up on its sibling to a dog photobombing, picking a winner will be hard.The 24 finalists are being judged by a panel of expert animal lovers, and the winner will be announced on Aug. 11.You also have a chance to vote for the “people’s choice award.”Click here.