Six Things That Successful Photographers Don’t Do

It’s not unusual to hear lists of things that successful people do, but what about some patterns that are destined to hold you back? Here’s a list of six habits that you should do your best to avoid as you progress your career as a creator.

Environmental Portraits
Critique the Community

Environmental Portraits

Submit Your Best Environmental Portrait

For this critique/contest, we want to see your best photos of environmental portraits. Every image must include a person and ideally they would be photographed in an environment that represents who they are, where they work, what their hobbies are, etc. 

Closed for new submissions. Voting is open.
A Common Mistake That Sinks Landscape Photographers

One of the frustrating parts about landscape photography is that unlike most other genres, you do not have any control over the light. Getting surprised by the light often leads to landscape photographers making a mistake that deprives them of worthwhile images, and this excellent video discusses why and how to avoid it.

5 Helpful Tips for Astrophotography

Astrophotography is a tremendously challenging genre that requires some specialized techniques and knowledge, but when you nail a shot, the results can be jaw-dropping. If you are looking to improve your astro images, this excellent video tutorial will show you five great tips that will help you take better photos of the night sky.

Making a Career out of Landscape Photography

Landscape photography is a popular genre, but the vast majority of those who enjoy it do it as a hobby and not a profession. So, how do those who do it professionally make a career out of it? This insightful video features a professional landscape photographer discussing his long-term approach to his career and some things to be aware of along the way.

Why the Golden Spiral Is Overrated

The golden spiral is often touted as a sort of magical tool for photo composition that automatically creates balanced, compelling images, but it is not without controversy regarding its effectiveness. This interesting video features one photographer examining the concept and discussing why he thinks it is not a good tool for beginners to use in their photography.

5 Helpful Sports Photography Tips to Improve Your Images

Sports photography is a challenging genre that requires fast reactions and solid technique, but it can also be a ton of fun and can yield jaw-dropping action images. If you are looking to improve your sports images, check out this great video tutorial that offers five helpful tips to take better shots.

How Good Is Canon's $12,000 RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM Lens?

Canon's top-level supertelephoto prime lenses are some of the most impressive in the entire camera world, offering extreme focal lengths and apertures paired with uncompromising image quality and performance. The RF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM brings a sports and wildlife staple to the company's mirrorless line, and this excellent video review takes a look at the sort of image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

Learn How to Edit an Environmental Shutter Drag Portrait in Lightroom

Last week, we walked through How to Capture an Environmental Shutter Drag Portrait. A shutter drag portrait is a portrait that captures movement around a subject using slower shutter speeds. Following the steps in the video, we wound up at a final raw image. In this video and article, I'll be walking through the editing process from start to finish in both color as well as black and white to get to our final images!

How to Quickly and Easily Blend Multiple Times of Day in Photoshop

Something landscape photographers often have to deal with is extreme dynamic range and the fact that different parts of the frame look better at different times of day. A common technique is to take multiple exposures and blend them in post, and this awesome video tutorial will show you how to do it quickly and easily using the Lighten blending mode in Photoshop.

How Good Is Canon's Strange RF 600mm f/11 IS STM Lens?

Canon's RF 600mm f/11 IS STM and RF 800mm f/11 IS STM lenses are some of the most unique to come to the market in a while, offering photographers extremely long focal lengths at very affordable prices, albeit with the compromise of a very narrow fixed aperture. Is that compromise reasonable? This great video review takes a deep look at the lens.

Reuters Photojournalist Dies in Afghanistan After Being Left Behind During Retreat

Danish Siddiqui was no stranger to dangerous situations, having captured images of the Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar that garnered a team Pulitzer Prize in 2018. He put himself in harm's way during the tensions between the Hindu majority and Muslim minority in Delhi and again during the pandemic. His images of funeral piers in India were in stark contrast to the government's statements that the COVID response was well in hand.

Learn How to Create Evenly Lit Portraits With Just One Speedlight

Sometimes, we're hampered by malfunctioning gear or we just can't afford to invest in a second speedlight, so it's imperative that we learn how to make do with what we have. Creating an evenly lit, bright, and airy portrait with just one speedlight might seem like too much to ask, but not if you have a few grips and some reflective material at hand.

Can the Fujifilm GFX 100S Handle the Demands of Wedding Photographers?

Fujifilm's GFX series rewrote the rules on medium format, bringing it to the price level of upper-level full frame options and opening an entirely new format to many photographers. The GFX 100S continues that, bringing a top-shelf sensor and capabilities at a price ($5,999) that is about as aggressive as you will see in any camera. As such, it is an intriguing option for wedding photographers. This great video takes a look at the camera and if it can keep up with the demands of the genre.

The Different Types of Studio Light Stands and Which Are Right for Your Work

We spend a lot of time talking about different kinds of lights and modifiers, but once you have spent a lot of money on your setup, you will want to make sure the stand you put it on will hold it safely and allow you to maneuver it as needed. This helpful video tutorial will show you four commonly used types of studio light stands, when they are appropriate, and how to use them.

Review of the Epson EcoTank Photo ET 8500 All-in-One Printer

Epson asked me if I was interested in reviewing the EcoTank photo ET 8500 all-in-one printer. I said yes and got the opportunity to use the printer for a month. Is it worth investing in this printer? Let’s find out.

The Importance of Photographing Shelter Pets and How to Do It

There are millions of wonderful pets in shelters at any given time, all waiting for someone to take them home and love them forever. One of the best ways to give back with your camera skills is to photograph shelter pets to increase their chances of being adopted. These great videos will show you the importance of doing so and offer you some helpful tips and tricks for doing so.

Learn How to Capture Stunning Bird Action Photos Mid-Flight

If you've ever wondered how professional wildlife photographers get that perfect mirror-like reflection in bird photos and what camera settings they use to capture birds in flight without missing the shot, then this walkthrough is for you.

The Worst Things I Have Bought as a Photographer

I have no doubts that we have all forked out some of our hard-earned Benjamins on something completely regrettable, as I certainly have. Over the years, I have made some questionable purchases, and here are the worst.

The Canon EOS R3 Gets Rumored Launch Date

We've been waiting a long time for the Canon EOS R3 and we finally have some good, albeit rumored, news on when it'll be launching, and it's not too far away.

Perfect Skin Texture in Portraits Using Lightroom

Perfecting skin in portraits is one of the hardest edits to do well, as it involves an interplay between removing unwanted blemishes and retaining skin texture. That's why in this tutorial, I'll show you how to make simple, well-balanced edits using Lightroom.

Why Is ISO Invariance So Special?

There is not a more confounding and mysterious element of digital photography than ISO. And just when we've all thought we've figured it out and it starts to make sense, another wrinkle appears and threatens our conceptions all over again.

Has Sony Altered the Camera Market Forever?

The mirrorless camera was an innocuous enough invention that stemmed from Olympus' early innovation, but is it Sony that has managed to change the camera market for good and upset the CaNikon apple cart?

The Challenges of Photographing Jupiter

Jupiter is one of the most stunning objects in the night sky, and while it is relatively close to us are far as objects in space go, it is still a mind-bogglingly far distance from our home planet, making it a real challenge to photograph. This neat video goes behind the scenes to show the process an astrophotographer went through to get a photo of the biggest planet.

Is Capture One or Lightroom Right for Your Photography?

When it comes to organizing and editing your images, there are two behemoths in the industry: Lightroom and Capture One. They are very distinct applications, and you may find you prefer one over the other. If you are wondering which one is right for your work, be sure to check out this great video that highlights their biggest differences and the pros and cons of each application.

Advancing Your Photography With Photographic Essays

We usually see a photograph as a solitary work, a passing moment in time captured to be examined on its own. However, creating a coherent story through a body of work can lift your photography up to a new level.

This Video Shows Why Lighting Makes the Photo

No doubt, we are constantly bombarded by temptation for newer and better cameras and lenses, and we often delude ourselves into believing that they will flip a switch that will suddenly make our photos vastly better. At the end of the day, it is all about the light, and this awesome video pits an iPhone versus a Hasselblad to show you just how true that is.

How to Get Dramatic Clouds in Overcast Lighting Conditions

When photographers hear overcast skies, we immediately think of flat light. What this usually means is an overall lack of detail and contrast, especially in the sky. It might be easy to assume that the sky during overcast days is uninteresting, but I want to show you the opposite, that overcast days are some of the best times to get deep and dramatic images. In this video and article, I'll be walking through how to shoot and edit dramatic clouds during overcast conditions in Adobe Lightroom Mobile.

Review of the Godox AD1200 From a Professional Photographer's Point of View

I have always been a bit of a lighting snob. Camera-wise, I'm happy to go 35mm instead of medium format. For lenses, I'd use a Canon instead of a Zeiss with no concern, but when it came to lights and modifiers, I'd only use Broncolor. So I was happy to review this new (ish) light.

Learn From a Master: Analysis of Joel Meyerowtiz's Street Photography

There are photographers that are so masterful in their creation of images that they are worth studying in the hope you can siphon off some of their brilliance. In this video, watch as some of Joel Meyerowitz's legendary street photography is broken down and analyzed.

Why, When, and How to Use Two Cameras

You have probably seen professional photographers in certain genres (weddings, for example) shooting with two camera bodies simultaneously. Why do they do this and what are the benefits of carrying that extra weight? This excellent video discusses the topic and offers some tips for working with two cameras simultaneously.

12 Helpful Tips for Better Black and White Photos

Creating a good black and white photograph takes so much more than simply converting a color image to monochrome; they are an art entirely unto themselves. If you are looking to improve your black and white shots, check out this great video tutorial that offers 12 helpful tips that will have you taking better shots in no time.

10 Ways to Make Colors Pop in Lightroom

Photos often lack a real punch when we import them for editing, this is especially apparent when importing raw files to Lightroom because it strips the shot of the overriding camera settings making them seem lackluster. Luckily, there are 10 simple ways you can make your colors pop once again.

Save on a Large Hard Drive and Sigma Lens Today Only

Photographers can always use more storage, and 150-600mm lenses are some of the most versatile out there, useful in a wide range of scenarios. Today only, you can save on both through these great deals.

The Unique Creative Photo Opportunities Hiding in the Forest

Landscape photography often deals with wide views that stretch for miles, but there is an entirely different world waiting to be photographed deep inside the forest. This great video shows some of the unique creative opportunities you can find in the forest and how you might go about capturing them.

Why It's a Big Deal That Adobe Is Acquiring Frame.io

Frame.io, a leader in building software for collaboration, client review and sign-off, and cloud-based workflows in moving image productions, is being acquired by Adobe for $1.275 billion. Why is this such a big deal?

How to Give Your Videos a Filmic Look With Color Grading

There are many ways to edit your videos and images, but one lasting method is in fact just to mimic the past. In this video, watch how one videographer color grades his work to get that vintage feel without sacrificing quality.

How to Improve Your Photography Website

For the majority of photographers, their website is the central hub through which potential clients will find and decide whether or not to hire them. And so, it is important to put a lot of careful thought into your website, as it can make or break the success of your business. This excellent video tutorial discusses some mistakes beginners make with their websites and how to fix or avoid them.