Lighting Tips to Improve Your Portrait Photography

As a photographer who is dedicated to your craft, one way you can distinguish yourself from a casual hobbyist is through your mastery of lighting. A new video by Mark Bone gives 5 guidelines you can consider when you want to add light to a portrait. Although Bone is a filmmaker rather than a photographer, these tips apply to photography as much as they apply to filmmaking.

Is This Affordable Lens All Nikon Shooters Need?

Nikon's Z 50 mirrorless camera has gained a fair bit of popularity by offering an affordable APS-C entry into the world of mirrorless cameras in a compact but capable body. The NIKKOR Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens offers a huge range of focal lengths in a small body, making it a natural companion to the Z 50 for a wide gamut of uses. This excellent video review takes a look at the lens and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

The Masters of Animating Classic Paintings

The works of classic painters are some of the most revered artifacts from antiquity. The Baroque style in particular exudes portrayals of dramatic light, color, and fantastic events. But for centuries, they have been relegated to two dimensions.

Landscape Photography Tips to Help Your Images Stand Out

Landscape photography is one of the trickier genres of photography due to the lack of control you have. Although you may have control over aspects such as composition, lighting can in the scene can prove a little challenging. Sometimes, you may end up with a picture lacking depth, and overcoming this issue could drastically improve your photography.

5 Mistakes Beginning Stock Photographers Make

Stock photography is often viewed as a form of "passive income" for photographers that have a low barrier of entry. But just because that's the case doesn't mean it's easy. A seasoned stock photographer shares some of the mistakes she made when starting.

Is There a Difference Between Color Temperature and White Balance?

If you look at your camera, you will find a button to change the white balance. You can choose either auto white balance or one of the other predefined settings. But it is also possible to set the color temperature itself. Is there a difference between color temperature and white balance?

How to Deal With Boring Skies in Landscape Photography

We often preach the importance of planning ahead in landscape photography, but the truth remains that nature does not always cooperate, and even if you expected dramatic, interesting skies, even a slight deviation from the weather forecast can leave you with dull monotony overhead. So, what can you do to avoid going home empty-handed? This helpful video tutorial will show you.

Photographer Hit by Errant Golf Tee Shot

On February 9, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open Pro-Am Tournament, a photographer was hit by an errant tee shot, with the event captured on video.

Canon Patents Yet Another Set of Crazy Lenses

It has only been a week since news of exciting Canon lens patents came out, and here we are again with another set of ridiculous lenses emerging from the company. This time, it is for a set of superzooms that stretch beyond the limits of most such lenses we have seen in the past.

Your First 10,000 Photographs Are Your Worst

If you are first starting in photography, this quote by the famous photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson might seem outrageous or overly harsh. But as someone who has taken at least 10,000 photos, I can tell you that there is a lot of truth to this, and more importantly, this idea can be freeing.

5 Steps to Edit an Amazing Trailer

We've all seen it: the movie was a letdown because the trailer ended up being better than it. Although this is a flaw of the movie creators, it's a testament to good work from the editors of the trailer. So, what makes a good trailer?

Storage Is About to Get More Expensive

Supply shortages have hit many industries quite hard in the last few years, and the camera and computer industries have not been immune. A recent discovery of contaminated materials at two major manufacturing plants has led to significant impacts on the flash memory market, which analysts predict will likely lead to increased prices.

5 Helpful Portrait Photography Tips That Will Improve Your Images

The challenge of portrait photography is that beyond needing to master an array of technical things like lighting setups and often fairly intricate editing techniques, you also need to be able to make your subject comfortable in front of the camera, all while managing the photography side of things. If you are wondering how you can improve your own portraiture, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will give you five tips to help you take better images.

Should the Artist Starve?

If you want a successful career as a photographer, you have to dismiss one toxic term that damaged our industry: "starving artist." It has caused more damage and more self-doubt to artists across the globe than probably anything else.

A Review of the New Sigma 20mm f/2 DG DN Contemporary Lens

Years ago, Sigma reinvented themselves with the Art series, which quickly grew into a full line of highly respected lenses, known in particular for their image quality and affordable prices. The company has continued to expand its offerings, which now include the Contemporary line, meant to "achieve a balance between convenience and performance." The 20mm f/2 DG DN is the latest entry in that line, and this excellent video review takes a look at the performance and image quality you can expect from it.

Fstoppers Reviews the Clear Night Filter: Enabling Astrophotography With a Drone?

If you’re into astrophotography, a drone typically isn’t your camera of choice. That’s why I was surprised to see Haida’s release of a light-pollution reducing filter for the new Mavic 3, which they’re calling the NanoPro Clear-Night Filter. Does this filter change the experience of shooting with a drone at night?

You Can Always Take a Good Landscape Photo, No Matter What the Conditions Are

If you look at the sort of landscape photos that tend to dominate the popular pages of Instagram and the like, they are often lit with warm, golden rays, augmented by dramatic skies, rich colors, and dramatic contrasts. And of course, those can be incredible images, but the conditions required to create them are often not present, and they are not the only compelling type of landscape photo. This excellent video shows you that you can create good landscape images no matter what the conditions you encounter.

How to Quickly and Easily Remove People From a Crowded Photo Automatically Using Photoshop

There are a ton of beautiful tourist spots out there begging to be photographed, but the problem is that unless you are extremely lucky, you will likely have to deal with people in the shot. You could take a bunch of photographs as people move around and then painstakingly mask in different parts of the image, or you could try this neat method that lets Photoshop take care of it automatically in just a few seconds, as this helpful video tutorial shows.

A Review of the Voigtlander MACRO APO-LANTHAR 65mm f/2 Aspherical Lens

Voigtlander is known for making lenses with rugged build quality and great image quality, and the MACRO APO-LANTHAR 65mm f/2 Aspherical lens is no different. This fantastic image review takes a look at this interesting lens and the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

How to Do Clamshell Lighting

There are lots of lighting techniques to learn, some simple, some complex, and they all offer something a bit different. One of my personal favorites is clamshell lighting and in this video, learn how to do it and when it will work particularly well.

Why You Should 'Steal' From Other Photographers

Of course, you should never outright copy or steal the work of other photographers; that is never in question. However, there is something to be said for turning work you know and love into something of your own, and this great video tutorial discusses the merits of doing so.

Hard Light Versus Soft Light Explained

It seems hard light is trending these days. From elaborate food spreads in Bon Appetit to fashion shoots for Burberry, hard light is in. If you've ever wondered how to create this look, this quick and simple tutorial will lay it out for you. I'll share a few concepts, and you can watch the video for a demonstration.

How to Create Compelling Square Images

In the days of film, the square format used to be more popular, particularly since 6x6 medium format cameras were around. Nowadays, no digital camera has a native 1:1 aspect ratio, and as such, the square format has fallen out of popularity quite a bit. That being said, it is a tremendously interesting and different way to compose and digest images, and this helpful video tutorial will give you some useful advice on creating interesting photos using it.

I Found My Stolen Guitar By Accident

Warning: although Photoshop was used to identify the guitar, this isn't really photography-related, but this story is too good not to share.

The Importance of Taking Stock of Your Photography

Amid a busy week, I figured I’d share a few brief thoughts on why it’s important to keep moving forward and why it’s just as important to sometimes remain still long enough to see where you stand.

How to Pitch to Brands and Land Photography Clients

If you want to shoot for brands and land large commercial projects, you have to know how to pitch to brands in a way that matches their expectations while still helping your own work stand apart from the other portfolios they have seen. If that is something you are new to or if you want to improve your chances, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will walk you through the entire process step by step to get you up and running in no time.

How to Easily Turn Your Signature Into a Classy Watermark

Did you have to take cursive in elementary school? Is that ability to write in beautiful, curvy letter lying dormant somewhere in the recesses of your mind after all these years? Why not awaken those skills and use them to create a beautiful custom watermark for your images? This great video tutorial will show you how to do just that quickly and easily using Photoshop.

Would You Pay $5,600 for a Zoom Lens?

Would you pay $5,600 for a zoom lens? And a variable aperture one at that? It sounds crazy, but with the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm f/2.8-4 ASPH., you get that beloved Leica look with the convenience of a zoom lens. How good is this premium offering? This great video review takes a look at what you can expect.

The Hidden Ingredient of Portraiture

When it comes to portrait photography, it is not uncommon for photographers to have a focus on the technical aspects of their craft. However, what if the secret ingredient of portraiture is more than just nailing a technically perfect photograph? Portraiture is all about the human subject and displaying their authenticity with each photo taken. The hidden ingredient that can take an average portrait to an exceptional piece of work has everything to do with the human connection to the subject.

Portrait Photography in Bright Midday Sun

Natural light portraiture is forever popular, but as us photographers know, more light isn't necessarily better. In fact, like half-breed vampires, we shy away from the sun at its brightest during midday.

9 Things You Should Check Before Purchasing a Used Lens

The used market is always full of lenses, and given how well many photographers take care of their gear, you can often save a fair bit of money and still get a quality lens by purchasing preowned. There are a few things you should check before you agree to buy that lens you are eyeing, though, and this quick and helpful video tutorial will take you through them all to make sure you are not wasting your money.

Five Shots You Need to Get When You Are an Industrial Photographer

An industrial photographer is someone who photographs the people and the products associated with multi-million dollar companies that make machines and tools for industries such as power and electric, trucking, and construction. As an industrial photographer, you will photograph everything from a two-ton drill used underground to a two-inch screw that secures a safety harness used by workers from a state electric company.

The Lighting Modifier You Didn't Know You Needed

I own a lot of modifiers. My studio contains Broncolor Hazylights, old fresnels that are as rare as hens' teeth, and softboxes of pretty much every size from under a meter to so big I can stand inside them, but this latest addition is the one that has helped me.

How Does the Fujifilm X-T4 Hold Up After Two Years of Heavy Use?

When Fujifilm released the X-T4 in April 2020, it didn’t feel like a massive upgrade over the hugely popular X-T3, and even Fujifilm stated that the newer camera was intended more as a sister than a successor. After two years of heavy use, how does the X-T4 hold up in 2022?

Here’s Why I (Almost) Always Ignore My Light Meter

My first camera was a Minolta SRT-101. I loved that camera. It was an excellent tool for learning about photography and manual exposure. As it was completely manual in operation, the internal meter was my only guide for achieving correct exposure, outside of using an external source or just guessing. Fast forward 20-plus years and the way I use an internal light meter has remained largely unchanged. That all changed recently.

Which Standard Lens Is the Best Option for Nikon Shooters?

One thing is for sure: Nikon mirrorless shooters are not at a loss for choice when it comes to standard zoom lenses. With four native options from Nikon, plus the option to pretty seamlessly adapt F mount options, you might be wondering which lens in the crowded field is right for your needs and budget. This excellent video comparison takes a look at five options and all their pros and cons to help you make the right choice.

A Battle Between the Canon EOS R3, Nikon Z 9, and Sony a1 Mirrorless Cameras

Camera manufacturers have really found another gear the last few years, obliterating the old maxim that you could have things like resolution or shooting speed, but not both, by releasing cameras that can tackle literally any situation you can throw at them. So, who holds the current crown? This excellent video compares the Canon EOS R3, Nikon Z 9, and Sony a1 mirrorless cameras to find out.

Can You Shoot Landscapes at f/1.4?

When it comes to landscape photography, a narrow aperture and large depth of field is the norm, as we generally want to get everything from the foreground to infinity sharp. Of course, that is a creative decision, and just like any other such decision, you can do something else. So, is it worth trying landscape photographs with a narrow depth of field? This great video makes a good case for it.

A Simple Way to Shoot Highly Reflective Products

Shooting products in a studio environment is not the easiest form of photography. It takes patience, knowledge of light sculpting, and clever post-processing. People also incorrectly assume that you must have a great deal invested in equipment.

A Review of the Nikon NIKKOR Z 28-75mm f/2.8 Lens

In the past few years, in addition to a lot of ultra-premium lenses, there has been a second movement toward more affordable lenses that make certain compromises to provide good performance and image quality without breaking the bank. For Nikon mirrorless users, one such option is the NIKKOR Z 28-75mm f/2.8 lens, and this excellent video review takes a look at the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

A Message Every Photographer Needs to Hear

Creatives are inundated from all directions by messages meant to undermine their confidence in their work and to get them to focus on things other than the act of creating an image. If you find yourself a bit lost in the midst of all that right now, take a few minutes to watch this great video essay that contains an important message every photographer and filmmaker should hear.

I Got Banned From Instagram, It Was a Good Thing

Creatives love and hate Instagram. While everyone is on it, very few enjoy being there. The platform is constantly changing the way it prioritizes work, as well as banning creatives without any reason. I was one of the unlucky many to experience such a ban.