Recent Education Articles

5 Reasons Why Lightroom Is a Better Choice for Editing Landscape Photos

Landscape photography generally requires an above-average amount of post-processing, and for advanced editing work, most photographers turn to Photoshop. However, that might not always be the best choice. This great video tutorial featured an experienced landscape photographer discussing five reasons why Lightroom is often the better choice for editing landscape photos.

How To Avoid a Big Time-waster as a Professional Photographer

Being a professional photographer takes many skills beyond simply what you can do with a camera and a computer. Chief among them is the ability to manage time well and cut out any inefficiencies. This great video tutorial features an experienced professional discussing a simple way to cut down on a lot of wasted time and the frustration that comes with it.

10 Things Photographers Don't Really Need

It will probably come as no surprise to you that there are certain "must-have" items that photographers don't really need in their lives. Before making your next purchase or business decision, check out this list.

5 Tips for Photographing in a Studio for the First Time

Working in a studio for the first time is one of the most exciting things a photographer can experience, but of course, there are some important considerations and adjustments you should be aware of to ensure you get the most out of it. This fantastic video tutorial features an experienced photographer discussing five important tips sure to help beginners stepping into a studio for the first time.

5 Hidden Gems in Photoshop

Photoshop is a tremendously complex and intricate application, and as such, there are some useful features that are easy to overlook simply by virtue of the overarching complexity. This awesome video tutorial will show you five such hidden gems in the program, where to find them, and how to put them to use for better and more efficient photo edits.

Mistakes Landscape Photographers Make With Telephoto Lenses

Landscape photography typically defaults to using wide angle lenses, but telephoto lenses can be an equally powerful tool. However, telephotos lenses come with their own traps and pitfalls as well. This excellent video tutorial features an experienced landscape photographer discussing some of the most common mistakes made with telephoto lenses and how to fix or avoid them.

9 Helpful Tips for New Landscape Photographers

Landscape photography is one of the most popular genres out there, and there are numerous ways to approach it and to find and express your creative voice. Nonetheless, there are some fundamental techniques and approaches that every beginner should be aware of. This excellent video tutorial will show you nine helpful tips that are sure to put you on the right track with your work.

All Photography Educators Should Have as Much Fun as These Guys

Geraint and Rob are old friends out to have fun with their photography. They are both accomplished photographers and, most importantly, have a lot of fun taking pictures. The genuine joy they find in the creative process is evident and makes this video is worth watching.

Are Modern Photos Too Perfect?

We are at a remarkable time in photography: cameras and lenses are more capable than ever, and we can create images that photographers could only dream of a decade ago. And for the most part, that is a great thing. However, there can be a downside to that. Are images too perfect nowadays?

Landscape Photography in Extremely Wet Conditions

I've always been a fan of seascape and waterfall photography. I love these dynamic environments and don't shy away from getting myself wet while closing in on the subject matter. The only thing that could hold me back was the intense spray I had to face while getting close to a stormy sea or a thundering waterfall. But no longer. I found a solution against the limitations it imposed on my photography, and I share it with you in this article.

How to Take Better Portraits in Bright Sunlight

Bright, harsh sunlight sitting far overhead is the bane of many portrait photographers' existences, but it is not impossible to create compelling portraits with flattering light in such conditions. This helpful video tutorial will show you how to take bright sunlight and harness it for worthwhile images.

How to Edit Landscape Photos in Black and White

We are used to seeing landscape images with vibrant, eye-catching colors, but of course, that does not mean you can't create compelling photos in black and white. It takes more than simply pulling all the saturation out of a file to create worthwhile shots, though. This fantastic video tutorial will show you how to edit landscape photos in black and white to get the best results.

A Beginner's Guide to Flash Photography

A lot of photographers feel a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of learning how to work with flash, but once you learn the fundamentals of how light behaves and how to control it, you will find strobes are not that great a mystery and that they can open an entirely new creative world. If you are new to working with artificial light, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will get you up and creating images in no time.

What Is Color Depth and Why Does It Matter?

Color depth (also known as bit depth) is one of the properties of photos and video that is discussed less often than marquee features like resolution, but it has a deep impact on the quality and appearance of your work. If you are new to photo and video work, check out this great video tutorial that will show you everything you need to know about color depth.

The First Photographer You Have to Satisfy Is Yourself

Being a creative, even if it is work you are doing for a client, is a deeply personal thing. As such, one of the most important things is staying true to your creative vision. This excellent video discusses that idea and why you are the first person you need to satisfy with your work.

Helpful Tips for Better Portrait Photos

Portrait photography is a challenging genre that requires a combination of technique, the ability to work with a human subject, creative vision, and more. Whether you are new to the genre or an experienced professional, check out this fantastic video tutorial that offers a wide range of tips and helpful advice sure to help you create more compelling images.

The Many Portrait Looks You Can Create With Just a Single Light

Although you will often see professional portrait photographers working with multi-light setups, you can absolutely create compelling images using just a single light. In fact, there are different looks you can create just by varying the position of your light. This excellent video tutorial will show you how light placement affects your photos and how to use it to create the looks you are after.

A Compositional Mindset That Will Give You Better Landscape Photos

Composition is one of the trickiest aspects of landscape photography. We get no control over what is in the environment or the way the light behaves, and as such, we have to be clever in our positioning, choice of parameters, and framing in order to create images that are simultaneously orderly and compelling. This excellent video tutorial will show you a compositional mindset that will help you come home with more worthwhile photos.

An Effective and Compelling Two-Light Portrait Photography Setup

Portrait lighting is about more than creating a technically correct exposure; it is your chance to add your creative touch to your images and create a memorable style. Once you are comfortable with a single light, multiple lights will open an entirely new world of possibilities for your work. This excellent video tutorial will show you an effective two-light setup for creating compelling portraits.

How to Add Catchlights to a Subject in Photoshop

Catchlights are one of the most important bits of a portrait that signify a professional image. It is not uncommon, however, for your subject to be posed in a way where they just miss having a catchlight. That is no reason to bin that photo, though, as you can add a realistic catchlight quickly and easily in Photoshop. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to do just that.

5 Things You Must Do Before You Press Record On Your Next Youtube Video

A common misconception surrounding success on YouTube is that it all hinges on the best or right gear for the job. A lot of readers of Fstoppers are here to research cameras and lighting to level up the quality of their videos, and rightfully so. But without the right processes in place, no amount of professional quality gear will matter. I can guarantee you that 99% of where content creators go wrong on YouTube is in the planning stages, before they even press record. Trust me.

An Important Photography Lesson

It can be easy to look at top photographers and think that they have simply unattainable levels of skill and natural talent and as such, that a normal person can never reach such heights. However, the truth is a lot more complex than that, and it is something that you should really think about as you grow and mature as a photographer. This excellent video essay discusses why photography is less about skills and more about the time and dedication you put into its pursuit.

How to Remove Shadows From a Person's Face in Photoshop

When you are shooting in a studio, you have full control over the lighting and content in the frame, but if you are shooting in another environment, particularly outside, you may end up with unwanted shadows distracting from your subject, ruining an otherwise compelling photo. All is not lost, though. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to convincingly remove those shadows using Photoshop.

A Beginner's Guide to the Exposure Triangle

Shutter speed, aperture, and ISO are the three most fundamental parameters in photography, and with them, you have control over both the technical and creative aspects of your exposure. Together, these three parameters form the exposure triangle. Learning the triangle should be a priority for any new photographer, and this excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to master it and take full control of your images.

How to Book More Photo and Video Clients

You can watch endless videos about lens reviews and Instagram for photographers on YouTube. Very few channels offer business advice that moves the needle for photographers.

Why You Should Embrace Inclement Weather in Landscape Photography

Few people enjoy standing in the middle of rain and wind, but for those who are willing to do it, the reward can be particularly interesting and compelling images. This excellent video tutorial will show you why weather that would make most people run inside is actually a fantastic opportunity for great landscape images.

9 Tips for Successful Drone Flights

Drones are more popular, powerful, and portable than ever, and they offer you the ability to get photos and videos from perspectives that simply would not be possible otherwise. Of course, with such a different method of working, flying and shooting with a drone requires some special considerations. This great video tutorial will show you nine important keys to consider before your next drone flight that will help you ensure you get the best possible shots.

Focus Stacking for Sharp Landscape Photographs

Most of the time, landscape photographers want everything in the image as sharp as possible, from the closest foreground element all the way to the farthest mountain or cloud. Accomplishing that takes more than simply setting your lens aperture to f/32 and shooting away. Focus stacking is one of the most common techniques for achieving this, and this great video tutorial will show you how it is done.

Everything You Need to Know to Shoot Professional Video on Your iPhone

The iPhone has become a legitimate professional creative tool for many people, and in many situations, it is actually the device of choice for shooting video. Just like any other camera, though, it is important to learn how to get the most out of it to produce your best work. This fantastic video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to produce professional video footage using your iPhone.

Everything You Need to Know About Lightroom's New Portrait Masking Feature

Lightroom and Photoshop have both seen major updates recently, and one of the most interesting and powerful new features in the former application is the portrait masking tool. With the power to significantly improve the precision and efficiency of your portrait edits, it is well worth taking the time to dive into the new tool, and this excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know.

Do You Need a Personal Style in Landscape Photography?

If you hop on Instagram and check out popular landscape photography hashtags or locations, and you will probably notice a lot of the same sort of style of images. As such, a lot of photography advice tells you to develop your own style simply so you can stand out from the crowd. Is that the best approach, though? This excellent video features an experienced landscape photographer discussing why that can actually get you in a bit of trouble.

Great Fall Waterfall Photo Ideas

Fall is here in many places, and with it comes tremendous photography opportunities of all sorts. One interesting way to take advantage of those gorgeous colors is to integrate waterfalls and moving water in the shot. This great video tutorial will show you some awesome ideas for autumn photography with rivers and waterfalls.

How and Where to Focus to Get Perfectly Sharp Photos Every Time

It doesn't matter how great your composition is or how spectacular your colors might be, if your image is not crisply focused, then you most likely need to toss it in the trash. Learn how to nail your focus for tack-sharp images every time.

Good Advice for New Landscape Photographers

Landscape photography is a popular and well-established genre, and as such, there are certain established practices and advice given to budding photographers. And while a lot of it is good, some can pigeonhole you into styles or techniques that are actually detrimental to your development and the images you create. This excellent video tutorial features an experienced landscape photographer debunking some common advice and showing why you are better off going another way.

A Quick and Easy Photoshop Portrait Retouching Workflow

When it comes to retouching skin, there are several ways to accomplish the same task, some more efficient and easier than others. If you would like an easy way to quickly and effectively edit skin in Photoshop, check out this great video tutorial that will show you just such a workflow.

How Do You Find Your Photography Niche?

The overwhelming majority of professional photographers will tell you that if you want to find success, you need to specialize. However, when you are first starting out, you will probably find a lot of different genres exciting. So, how do you narrow it down to the right focus for you? This awesome video tutorial features an experienced professional photographer laying out a three-step plan for finding your niche as a photographer.

5 Mistakes Beginners Make When Printing Their Photos

Printing your photos and holding a tactile representation of your hard work is a wonderful and exciting experience, but creating a proper print is a skill and area of knowledge unto itself. If you are just starting to print your photos and want to ensure you do not waste your money, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you five common mistakes beginners make when printing photos and how to avoid them.

How to Remove Shadows With Frequency Separation

If you want to lift your retouching skills to the next level, you should familiarize yourself with frequency separation and how it can aid you in various photo editing tasks. One of those can come up in cityscape and architecture photography. Especially during blue hour and nighttime, you can get unwanted shadows in your photos. In this article, I explain how to remove those with frequency separation.

Helpful Landscape Photography Secrets and Productivity Tips

Creating a successful landscape photo takes a combination of planning, patience, technique, vision, and sometimes, just a bit of luck. Professional landscape photographers have some common habits and productivity hacks they use both to be more efficient and to ensure that they come home with the best possible images. This great video tutorial will take you through some of those habits and hacks to help you improve your landscape work.

A Beginner's Guide to Selecting the Right Aperture for Photos

In tandem with shutter speed and ISO, aperture is one of three fundamental exposure parameters that grant you the technical and creative control over your images that you bought a specialized camera for in the first place. If you are new to photography and wondering what aperture is and how it works, check out this great video tutorial that will give you a practical guide to using it for taking better control of your photos.

4 Lighting Secrets for Better Portraits

Creating successful portraits is a complex task that requires a lot of specialized knowledge and techniques, but just like any other genre of photography, having a complete mastery of lighting is near the top of the list of requirements. If you would like to improve your portraits, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you four lighting secrets that will put you on the right track.

Gear Up for Real Estate Photography on a Shoestring Budget

One of the most consistent opportunities we have as photographers to earn money with our cameras is photographing real estate and hospitality properties, such as Airbnb rentals, and contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t take a huge investment to offer quality images for this purpose.

10 Crucial Lighting Mistakes Beginner Filmmakers Make

While there are a lot of differences between video and photography, one fundamental truth remains: your lighting makes or breaks your creations. And just like photography, there are some common lighting mistakes that new filmmakers tend to make. This excellent video tutorial will show you 10 such mistakes and what you can do to fix them or avoid them in the first place.

How a Photographer Runs His Business

Running a successful photography business that brings in sufficient income takes a lot more than simply being good with a camera and knowing how to light a shot. This excellent video tutorial features an experienced professional discussing how he runs his business and offering some helpful insight.

Improvised Cinematic B-Roll With Available Lighting

Cinematic footage is a great way to showcase a product and add a level of professionalism to your video work. However, it can be daunting to know where to start, and the options can get expensive. If you want simple and effective ways to up your video b-Roll game without breaking the bank, look no further than this accessible tutorial.

5 Things I Look for in a Cinema Camera

The definition of a “cinema camera” seems to be ever evolving. So what are some of the things that set them apart from mirrorless?