Do you ever find yourself repeating yourself over and over again to prospective clients in your workflow? If so, here are the templates I’ve created that both anticipate my clients’ questions and save me valuable time in my product photography business.

We spend a lot of time talking about elements of shooting a portrait that revolve around the subject, such as posing and retouching, but of course, a good image has to have a well-balanced composition. This great video tutorial will show you five steps for creating a compelling portrait composition that stands above those we are used to seeing these days.

Knowing how to light, compose, and pose a portrait is only half of what it takes to create a finished image. The other half is retouching, and it takes a variety of techniques and a delicate touch to create a compelling result. This excellent video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to edit a portrait using both Lightroom and Photoshop.

With long days and shorter nights, summer is a good time to consider getting into solar astrophotography. The Sun is also heading toward the active phase of its 11-year sunspot cycle and promises to make the Sun more interesting than the featureless cueball look of the sunspot cycle minimum. Solar astronomers use the count of visible sunspots as a measure of the solar activity, and sunspot cycle #25, as counted by astronomers, looks like it will be peaking sometime around 2024.

Film has seen a major resurgence in popularity in the last few years, and Fujifilm's line Instax line of cameras and printers has been a runaway hit for the company. The newest option in the lineup is the Instax Mini Link 2, and this excellent video setup guide and review takes a look at everything you can do with the printer and the sort of quality and experience you can expect from it in usage.

It used to be that continuous lighting was either way too hot or simply not powerful enough for lighting portraits, but LEDs have come quite a long way in recent years, and they are now a viable alternative to strobes in certain situations. This great video examines the two options while showing off a unique light that can do both.

In the final part of my four-part series, I want to focus on the one person who can make or break your photography business: you.

Photography, like any other art, is a highly subjective pursuit, and as such, it can sometimes be a bit difficult to know if you are doing well or what you can do to improve. So, what is it that makes a good photograph? What does it mean to be a good photographer? This excellent video essay explores those questions and offers some useful insights.

The new Apple MacBook Air has arrived, and it brings with it a newly designed chassis, a new chip, a bigger screen, and a whole range of other new features and improvements over the already highly respected M1 MacBook Air. So, how does Apple's ultra-portable laptop perform with all these upgrades? This excellent video review takes a look at everything you can expect from it in practice.

Most of us over 30 have at least one box of old photo prints in a closet somewhere, and digitizing them is a worthwhile if tedious task. The Epson FastFoto FF-680W scanner seeks to make quick and easy work of that task while still producing high-quality results, and in this review, we take a look at what you can expect from it in practice.

The Australian company has updated their 19-inch display after five years, essentially bringing it in line with today’s tech.

Were you wanting to do some HDR work in Luminar Neo? It's about to be offered as a paid extension. HDR Merge compiles multiple exposure-bracketed images into a single HDR image. It can merge up to 10 photos and deliver an increased level of color enhancement, making the final result look as close as possible to what the eye sees. HDR Merge is scheduled to be released on July 28, and the preorder starts today.

A bit of panic leads to a fun diversion. Today, we pose a hypothetical question.

Content-Aware fill was one of the most useful advancements in the history of Photoshop, allowing you to quickly and effectively clean up distractions in images without having to do loads of tricky work to make the result convincing. While it does not work for every situation, its usefulness stretches farther than you might think. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to use Content-Aware tool to efficiently and convincingly remove distractions in images.

Fujifilm's X-H2S is the newest camera in the company's popular X Series line of mirrorless cameras, and with it come a variety of improvements and new features, most notable being a new sensor. This awesome video review takes a look at the camera for photography purposes, including the performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

A strong community and invested mentors are crucial ingredients for sustainable growth and success. I recently had the chance to sit down and talk with two Canon Canada FUTURES alum, Eli Meadow Ramraj and Gessy Robin Shumbusho, about the importance of community in their careers. The deadline for Canon Canada's FUTURES Year Two incubator program is fast approaching. If you need that boost you can only get from a committed mentor and supportive community, don't hesitate, don't be nervous, apply.

Sony has announced sales on some of their most popular cameras and lenses for the next few days only. Check out the savings here!

One of the things the pandemic taught us is how important it is to diversify one's income streams, particularly when events entirely outside our control can put those streams in serious jeopardy. The nice thing about photography, though, is that (depending on your genre at bit, admittedly) there are a lot of ways to make money from images besides simply shooting for a client who then pays you for your services. This great video essay features an experienced photographer discussing the importance of income streams.

In news that really isn't a surprise to many, Nikon will likely no longer develop any new DSLR cameras, now turning their focus entirely to their mirrorless lineup.

When does landscape photography become digital art? In this article, I address the longstanding debate in the community about purism versus artistic expression while showing you my own image from start to finish.

Leading lines are one of the most powerful compositional tools at a landscape photographer's disposal, allowing you to easily capture the viewer's eye and guide it through the image. Nonetheless, they are not the only compositional tool available to you, and it is important to practice other methods as well. This great video follows an experienced landscape photographer as he explores different ways to create compelling photos besides using leading lines.

There are a ton of different modifiers available for working with artificial lighting, and it can be a bit overwhelming (and expensive) to pick one when you are just starting out. Umbrellas are some of the cheapest modifiers out there, and as such, they are a fantastic tool for learning how to work with artificial light, and they can do a lot more than they often get credit for. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to create compelling portraits using just one light and an umbrella.

Photographing cars and motorsport is a unique and exhilarating genre of photography, here are 5 good reasons you should try it.

As far as I can tell, we should never stop learning and when it comes to my photography, I am always looking to gather information from others. In this video, experienced landscape photographer, Nigel Danson, takes you through something he learned that benefited his worth from then on.

Instead of getting overwhelmed by the various ways to go about positioning your camera, frame composition, and then deciding what you're trying to say with your shot selection, this video breaks down the various elements that directors and directors of photography use to convey their intent.

While you can absolutely create professional-level portraits with a single light, using multiple lights will allow you create more advanced and precise setups that simply are not possible with just one source. One of the most important secondary lights a portrait photographer can use is the kicker, and this great video tutorial will show you both what they are and how they are used to create more effective images.

Photographing waterfalls is more tedious than it looks. In this instance, physical aspects of the gear you use heavily impact the success of each shot. Here are some important and helpful tools to have out in the field.

The 85mm lens is generally the most popular choice for portrait photography, but 135mm has long been an alternate favorite of a lot of photographers. Just like the former focal length, there are some impressive 135mm options out there, one being the Sony FE 135mm f/1.8 GM. This great video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

The Canon EOS R5 got most of the attention when it was first announced along with the EOS R6, but the latter is an impressively capable camera, and for a lot of creatives, it might actually be the more appropriate choice. This excellent video review takes a look at the ESO R6 and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

It has been 26 years since development started on the eventual successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. In that time, after numerous delays, cost overruns, one major redesign, and 10 billion USD, the James Webb Space Telescope has finally taken its first images.

If you are someone who spends many hours or even days away from a power source, you know how difficult it can be to keep all your devices properly topped off. With a huge battery and a variety of smart features, the Anker PowerHouse II 300 seeks to remedy that conundrum. In this review, we take a look at the PowerHouse and how it performs.

Portrait photography is arguably the biggest segment in the photography industry. The majority of photography equipment tends to focus more on portrait and people photography. Lighting is one of those key bits of equipment. The kind of lighting you use can impact a lot of things and not just the results you produce.

Landscape photographers have a love/hate relationship with clouds. Too many or too little in our shot can be cause for grief while trying to compose a landscape image, unless the clouds are interesting, of course, like during a storm.

From the time I was a child, I have been fascinated by all things related to the NASA moon missions of the 1970s. I’ve been particularly intrigued by the photographs that were taken by astronauts on their way to the moon and the surface as well.

Corporate events are perhaps my favorite thing to photograph these days. There are so many different shots I can create at a conference that I am never bored. Networking opportunities are in abundance at any given corporate affair, and most of the people in the room are working for a company that has the budget to hire me to shoot for them.

2022 has been a triumphant year for film photography, and although we are yet to see big companies produce anything in the way of serious film cameras, we have seen a few exciting, plastic toy cameras hit the market. Kodak has now delighted the community with these stylish half frame cameras manufactured in collaboration with the Reto Project.

Fujifilm's GFX line of medium format mirrorless cameras rewrote medium format's role in the industry, taking it from a niche tool used by a few studios and rental houses and making it a viable alternative to full frame bodies, particularly for landscape, wedding, and portrait photographers. If you are curious about the camera for landscape work, check out this great video review that discusses the performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice.

These days, most of us are carrying several battery-powered devices at any given time, and that can add up to a lot of cables to keep track of and a lot of inconvenience if you forget to bring along the right power adapter. That's why with four USB-C ports and two USB-A ports, support for a range of fast charging protocols, and an impressive 200 watts of total output, the Ugreen Nexode 200W charger is a fantastic accessory for many creatives. We take a deep look at the device in our review here.

The Fujifilm X-H2S is the latest entry in the company's respected X Series line of mirrorless cameras, and it brings along a wide range of new features and improved capabilities. This excellent video review takes a look at the new camera and the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in real-world usage.

Perhaps the greatest challenge and source of frustration in landscape photography is the fact that we have no control over the light. While we can do our best to predict how things will shape up, nature does not always cooperate. When that happens, a bit of patience can be your best friend. This excellent video details why.

Believe it or not, headshot cropping and orientation is a controversial topic in the photography community. In this article and the accompanying video, I give you five reasons to crop horizontally and take just a bit off the top of the head.

When you are new to working with artificial light for portraits, you should generally start with a single source until you are comfortable with all the basic properties and techniques. Once you feel comfortable with those, you can begin to embrace more complex multi-light setups. This excellent video tutorial shows a relatively simple two-light setup that creates an eye-catching spotlight effect.

If you do photography professionally, you are going to eventually have a dissatisfied client. It is something that happens to all of us, and it is not even always your fault. So, what can you do when that happens? This excellent video tutorial offers some helpful advice that will make it easier to handle those difficult situations.

Photography, whether photojournalism, documentary, sports, wildlife, or even landscapes, is much about camera placement and timing. But there are some fundamental mistakes that most of us photographers make that are barriers to getting great photos.

Can destruction be beautiful? Rankin’s new limited book “An Exploding World” has the answer. What began as a way to stay creative during the lockdown has turned into his latest coffee table book and a reminder of the significance of creativity for personal well-being.

Whether you are a new or highly experienced photographer, the allure of new gear can be strong. And there is nothing wrong with geeking out over the latest and greatest, but when that starts inhibiting your growth as a photographer because you are blaming the tools for a lack of technical or creative growth, it can become a serious problem. This great video discusses the topic and the sort of pitfalls you need to watch out for.

It used to be that you generally used Lightroom for organization and light adjustments and Photoshop for heavier editing. However, in recent years, Lightroom has taken some remarkable steps forward, and you can now perform major edits without having to leave the program. This great video tutorial will show you how to use some of Lightroom's tools to add atmosphere to an image.

The game of landscape photography is 90% the quality of the light. It is the most crucial and uncontrollable factor in your shot. Here are some tips to make the best out of it.

Film photography is experiencing a real surge in popularity, and the beauty of it is that there are decades upon decades of used film cameras available, meaning you have a ton of options in which to find the perfect model for your needs and budget. If you are interested in film photography and ready to purchase a camera, check out this great video that discusses some good options and what to look for.