There's a big mistake some photographers repeat time and again. It can cause more damage to their professional or amateur career than an out-of-focus photograph.
It is no secret that the proper exposure is fundamental to creating a good landscape image, but it is even more important than you might think. If you would like to improve your landscape photos, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features an experienced photographer discussing some of the many reasons that getting the proper exposure is so crucial to a successful shot.
"Game-changer" is an oft-used buzzword these days, but seldom does the product live up to the hype. See why this photographer is adamant the new Tamron 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD lens is indeed a game-changer.
How many times have you been stuck in a photographic rut? If your photo mojo got up, walked out, and slammed the door in your face, then there are things you can do to get it to come back. It has happened to me.
Artificial lighting is its own world, and it can be a bit overwhelming to try to tackle it all when you are new to the pursuit, which leads to some common misconceptions about the different types of flash, what they are used for, and how they work. This excellent video tutorial examines a lot of those misconceptions and offers a lot of helpful information that will make you better prepared to tackle working with artificial light.
A few years ago, if you wanted good image quality from a supertelephoto zoom lens, your only real choice was a first-party option. In the past few years, however, we have seen a real surge in high-quality third-party options that offer a lot of versatility and image quality at prices that often significantly undercut first-party lenses. This great video review takes a look at three of those, the Tamron 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di III VXD, and Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary.
Imagine a world where words can create images. Now imagine what that would do for the art world and photography. Well, it's here and it's not going to go away.
Becoming a successful photographer takes a combination of a lot of factors coming together all at the same time to make successful images, some objective and some subjective. And while every photographer will have a unique approach to the craft, there are some common traits that almost every successful creative has. If you would like to improve, check out this fantastic video tutorial that discusses five common traits of successful photographers.
The Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 lens is the second cheapest in Canon's full-frame lineup, coming in at $299. Does this lens give you value for money or should you invest in something more expensive?
Going into the colder autumn months, we start to spend more time at home, especially in cities with a lot of rainfall, such as Munich or London. Sitting down with a cup of warm tea or mulled wine and enjoying a movie is one of the many things I look forward to each year.
Though we often think of Photoshop as the complex behemoth, Lightroom has plenty of little nuances and hidden features as well. One of the least discussed is the Camera Calibration tab, which sits at the bottom of the Develop module and can give your photos the kind of subtle boost that takes them to the next level. This excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know about what the Camera Calibration tab does and how to use it.
The most user-friendly 360 camera has gotten a nice upgrade, and it paves the way for the future of 360 shooting.
It has been 11 years since I bought the Think Tank Airport Security V2 trolley as my main bag for weddings. It served its purpose, and I’m still happy with the bag. In this article, I want to review the bag based on my findings from the first moment I bought the Think Tank trolley back in 2011.
Many thought vlogging would be a brief trend, but it's safe to say that was not an accurate prediction. Many content creators weave in vlogs as a way of engaging their audience further and more regularly. However, shooting and editing vlogs can be highly time-consuming unless you know what you're doing.
DJI recently released the Avata, and it's made quite the buzz around town. So, how did this experienced drone pilot find flying the DJI Avata for the first time?
Nikon announces another wide angle zoom to add to its lineup of Z glass: the NIKKOR Z 17-28mm f/2.8.
It’s one thing to plan a restaurant shoot or a client brief for a particular project, but how do you go about planning and photographing a much longer project, like a cookbook? In this post, I’m sharing my tips on how to photograph a self-published cookbook, but the advice holds true for a longer project like an e-book too.
In the past year, Fujifilm has been on a tear, releasing a wide range of powerful new cameras and versatile lenses. One such lens is the XF 18-120mm f/4 R LM PZ WR, which combines a do-it-all focal length range with a variable power zoom for filmmaking applications. This excellent video review takes a look at the 18-120mm f/4 and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.
Photoshop is a tremendously intricate and layered program, and it can often take several clicks to navigate to the function you want. Keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time and help keep you in the creative zone instead of trying to hunt down the feature you need. This excellent video tutorial will show you 19 lesser-known keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop that are sure to make you a more efficient editor.
Recently, Lewis Capaldi “took his clothes off and traumatized the general public all in the name of shameless self-promotion.” The conclusion was that sex sells. What does this mean for photographers who work in the advertising world? What does this say about the body of work you should have? Read on to find out.
Do you think the locations around you are boring and really not worth your time? This will help inspire you and breathe new life into your photography.
Viltrox has established themselves as a company producing extremely affordable lenses that nonetheless offer good image quality and respectable performance. For Sony, Fujifilm, and Nikon mirrorless APS-C shooters, the AF 13mm f/1.4 lens offers an appealing combination of a wide focal lens and wide maximum aperture, and this excellent video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in usage.
Looking for a competitively priced compact flash that will fit in your pocket and work with your Fujifilm X-T4, your Sony Alpha, and your Leica M6? Check out our review.
Fujifilm has recently announced the new and highly anticipated XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR. This lens is an update to the popular 56mm f/1.2 R lens, which has been a favorite of Fujifilm X users since it was announced in early 2014. But how much improvement can we see? Have the criticisms of the original lens been addressed? This fantastic video gives real-world insight.
We photographers love gear. If you're like me, you probably have a corner (or a basement) filled with modifiers, filters, lenses, lights, and more. The truth is that we don't need a ton of expensive gear to create dramatic results, and in my latest video, I will show you how to create a Rembrant-style portraits using one off-brand flash in a small modifier.
Working in Photoshop with multiple layers and then trying to navigate to those layers to make tweaks to your edits can sometimes be time-consuming and at times also very annoying if you have forgotten to name the layer.
Photography might well be the most gear-intensive pastime on the planet, which means that while there is some incredible gear available for purchase, there are also plenty of duds to waste your money on. Are these some of the worst photography purchases you've seen?
Yes, the video says it's for posing women, but it works for everyone. It's for posing, it's for comfort levels, and it will help you run a more successful set. Here are three of my tips for helping models have a more successful photoshoot.
Topaz Labs, creator of well-respected applications like DeNoise AI and Sharpen AI, has announced Photo AI, an all-in-one AI-powered image editor that combines the company's best tools into an "autopilot" editing program, allowing photographers to do everything in one app alone.
Editing images is no easy task to undertake. Using editing software such as Lightroom or Capture One requires quite a bit of learning and getting used to. However, even if you know how to use editing software, you still need to edit images in such a way that enhances their beauty, rather than destroys it. Essentially, you need to know the why behind the how. Here are some mistakes I made when editing pictures because of not knowing the why.
Radiant Photo has launched, and it promises to give you photo edits with beautiful colors, crisp details, and natural renderings in just a click, giving you more consistent and professional images in less time, no matter what you shoot.
There are some extremely popular and well-known landscape photography locations out there, so much so that they are essentially bucket list items for a lot of people. When they are that popular, though, is there any point in photographing them? This excellent video essay features an experienced landscape photographer discussing the topic.
The pin-up model was one of the most iconic styles of the 20th century, and even today, decades after its heyday, it is still a very recognizable and eye-catching look that makes for great portraits. In this great video tutorial, you will learn how a vintage nude pin-up portrait was conceptualized, lit, and photographed.
Datacolor’s new Spyder Checkr Photo is a sized-down version of the original Spyder Checkr professional color reference tool while also being a vast improvement over the previous smaller version, the Spyder Checkr 24.
When it comes to do-it-all lenses, few can tackle a wider variety of needs and shooting scenarios than a high-quality 50mm lens with a wide aperture, which is suitable for anything from portraits to low-light events coverage. For Sony shooters, the FE 50mm f/1.2 GM offers the company's best design features and capabilities, and this exellent video review takes a look at the image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.
When it comes to landscape photography, a wide angle lens is usually the tool of choice and for good reason. Nonetheless, you do not have to use wide focal lengths exclusively. In fact, a telephoto lens can be a powerful tool that enables new creative opportunities. This awesome video will show you just what you can accomplish with a telephoto lens, particularly when you use one with macro capabilities.
Fujifilm's latest X Series camera, the X-H2 is here, and it brings with it a 40-megapixel sensor, the highest ever in an APS-C mirrorless camera. Along with all that resolution comes a wide range of impressive features, and this excellent video review takes a look at all those features as well as the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in usage.
There is a ton of gear buying advice on the internet. It ranges from people telling you to spend thousands on gear, to people saying all you need is a stick and a brick. I try to be somewhere in between and buy gear based on factors such as return on investment, need versus want, and return on creativity.
When it comes to landscape photography, you can certainly use prime lenses, but most professionals prefer the versatility and convenience of a zoom lens. So, what are the essential zoom lenses for a landscape photographer? This excellent video tutorial features an experienced landscape shooter discussing the three essential zoom lenses for the genre.
Being good with a camera and having creative vision is, of course, crucial to becoming a successful professional, but it is far from the only requirement. It takes a lot of business savvy in combination with those aforementioned skills in order to make a reasonable income. This excellent video tutorial discusses 10 common business mistakes photo and video creatives make and how to fix or avoid them altogether.
As you've learned in a previous article, a great time to photograph cities is during blue hour. But the blue hour often lacks dimension and depth in the sky. If you're lucky, you'll have some clouds that provide structure. But if you have a clear blue sky, it'll often appear flat. In this article, I show you a trick you can use to make such a sky more interesting and improve your blue hour photos.
Sony shooters have a huge array of portrait lenses available to them, and if you are in the market for one, it can be hard to know which one to pick for your needs, style, and budget. If you need a bit of assistance with that decision, check out this excellent video that will show you five great portrait lenses for the Sony E mount.
Why not just a fast shutter speed to freeze motion? That's what I always think, but there are good reasons to use a flash or speedlight to do it instead. Take a look to see what they are.
One of the questions I had when starting out was how to get jobs. How to turn my hobby into money? The advice on the internet was few and far between. So, here is my advice to anyone who wants to take the next step and make some cash from their art.
There are often multiple ways to go about achieving the same result when editing photos, and that is particularly true when it comes to editing the tones of an image. One of the most powerful and efficient tools for doing this in Lightroom is the tone curve. If you are new to the tool and wondering how to use it, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you an introduction to the tone curve and how to use it to create better edits.
The DJI Osmo Action 3 camera is here, and it brings with it a huge range of improvements and new features that make it a competitive option for anyone needing a durable and versatile action camera. This excellent video review takes a look at the new camera and the sort of performance and quality you can expect from it in use.
Last August, I took a look at a preview of a new app, Radiant Photo. It promised to do some of the heavy lifting on your unedited images and greatly improve them.
A lot of photographers fall into one of two camps: those who could not care less about gear or those who chase every new piece of kit. So, does gear actually matter? This fantastic video essay discusses why photographers actually should care about gear and how it can help them be better.
Understanding framing and composition is one of the crucial areas that photographers and filmmakers need to know about. Make sure you have these seven fundamentals mastered before your next shoot.
If you are a photographer, I can guarantee you that somewhere along the line, you will have a client who is unhappy with your work. In fact, I’m sorry to say that there will be more than one, especially if you have a thriving business. When the dreaded “I’m not happy with my photos” email arrives, it can easily suck the joy out of your entire day. But not all is lost, and in this article and accompanying video, I present six tips for dealing with unhappy clients.
