I have been fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of some great advice over the years. In this article, I go over the five bits that have resonated the most with me and that I think of on every shoot.
With the release of Luminar 4, it has become amazingly easy to replace a boring sky with something more appealing. You only need to pick the sky of your choice, and the artificial intelligence part of the program does an amazing job in masking out the sky and changing it into something else. But should you use it?
Traditionally, portrait lenses fall somewhere around 85-135mm, perhaps a little wider at times. But that does not mean you should totally discount ultra-wide angle lenses; in fact, in certain situations, they can be just the right piece of gear to help you create something more unique than the standard shot. Nonetheless, they require some special considerations. This great video will give you six tips to ensure you can get the best wide angle portraits possible.
We would all love to have the absolutely astounding supertelephoto primes that the pros use, but with prices well into five figures, they are simply not in the cards for most of us. Luckily, in the last few years, companies have been releasing better and better long zooms at more affordable prices. This great review takes a look at the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens.
Most photographers look back at their very earliest work and cringe; I am no exception. But what could I learn from harshly critiquing my earliest imagery and what value might it hold for beginners? Let's find out.
Hyperfocal distance is one of the most convenient techniques in landscape photography, as it allows you to maximize the amount of your image that is in focus without resorting to more involved techniques such as focus stacking. If you do not want to deal with mental math or looking up values in a table, this great video will give you a quick and easy method for employing hyperfocal distance in your own work.
We often hear the refrain that gear does not matter and a talented photographer should be able to create good images no matter what they are using. And while the advice is well intentioned, it is incomplete at best, and it is important to consider the situations in which gear actually does matter and how carefully thinking about your needs and budget can lead to better images. This excellent video examines that exact issue.
Finding backgrounds for indoor portraiture can be a pain after a while. You can get mileage out of proper backdrops and different lighting setups, but there's an option for punchy portraits with for all intents and purposes, unlimited variations.
It's hard to make your images stand out from the crowd. Here is a method which might help you catch the attention of your audience.
I recently got the chance to use the new Hasselblad X1D II for a week. It was my first experience with medium format and required a bit of adapting on a learning curve. Here are my first impressions about the body, design, lenses, and general usability of the camera.
Stories that change the way you see American culture are rare. The Delta Hill Riders project is one of those.
I absolutely adore the precise placement of light, and recently, during a model test, I decided to play around with it, utilizing a new tool, ending up with my first portfolio shot of 2020.
The rule of thirds is completely overrated. There, I said it. Nope, I am not going to take it back.
V-flats are some of the most flexible and useful accessories a studio photographer can have. This great video will show you five different portrait lighting setups you can create using v-flats in studio.
A couple has had to reshoot their wedding day pictures after it turned out their photographer was an amateur who took “diabolical” photos. The couple, who paid £100 per hour, complained the photos had “blurry backgrounds” and claimed some of the images on the photographer’s site were actually stock imagery.
No matter how strongly you feel about photography, it can still start to lose its shine. So, how can you avoid losing that fire that keeps the camera in your hand?
Continuous static shots in videos can get stale pretty fast. Adding clean, smooth motion pans into your video work has gotten even easier with the latest camera jib release from edelkrone.
If you are not proficient in artificial lighting, it can see a bit like its own world with its own language. Never fear, though, this great video will get you up to speed on what studio strobes are, how they work, and how to integrate them into your personal workflow.
One of the most fundamental and useful capabilities of Photoshop is the ability to remove distracting elements convincingly and efficiently, something that can improve or even save a wide range of photos. If you are new to Photoshop, this helpful video will show you how to use a combination of the Spot Healing Brush and Clone Stamp tools to remove distractions from your images.
Recently I got my hands on the new Fujifilm GFX 100 medium format camera and thought it would be fun to create a free fashion photography tutorial showing my entire workflow. The goal of this shoot was to create a bunch of different looking styled shoots using natural light in combination with a few strobes.
Finding and licensing music: it has got to be one of those painful tasks for anyone who creates videos or slideshows for clients, which is why we are reviewing a new player in town, Audiio.
There are cases when a client insists that you restrain from publishing anything you've worked on with them. Would you charge them more or you have another policy?
Almost all of us have caught GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) at some point. We can often get caught up with buying new lights and modifiers, new lenses, and it can all become rather daunting, so recently as a challenge to myself I shot an entire portfolio building session with a single light, a single modifier, and a single lens.
Making the shift from amateur photographer to professional is about much more than simply being good with your camera and asking to be paid for it. It takes the confluence of a lot of skills and preparedness to be a successful professional photographer, and this great video will give you 10 things you need to know.
Some photographers make a good living out of specializing in beverage photography, but many of these pros — who generously share their techniques on YouTube — do so using the best of equipment, so it might seem a little intimidating for a beginner. If you're curious about how to get professional-looking product images using some basic equipment, however, look no further than this tutorial.
A good photo can be ruined by the bad placement of a hand in the shot. This part of the body can be overlooked while shooting, but can have a drastic effect on your outcome. If you are unsure of how to pose hands, this video will help.
There are countless ways to combine images in Photoshop. So many, in fact, it can be easy to fall into a routine using the same techniques, while ignoring or avoiding exploration of new and creative ways to combine them. If you want to try something different, Colin Smith at PhotoshopCAFE explains three techniques that can help you create compelling composites in this tutorial.
Are you up to a creative challenge today? No matter how many lights you have in your kit, I challenge you to shoot your next portrait or film using just one light.
Photolab 3.1 from DXO has been out a couple of months now, and early looks from photographers have been positive. It's a complete raw editor and has many features photographers will expect to see and adds some very worthwhile enhancements that will highly interest editors at every skill level.
Happy New Year! If you’re like me, you probably made about 20 New Year's resolutions — most of which seemed like far poorer ideas once the wine wore off. A few I do have to admit would make me a better person, but don't sound like much fun. There's only one am I excited about: Explore more!
As a company, Facebook has quite a prudish mentality when it comes to art and creative works in general. This is why we have campaigns like "Free The Nipple," because Instagram doesn't really seem to appreciate art. What's worse is Instagram is now targeting images they consider "fake," which includes composites and works of a surreal nature.
Macro photography can be a fun and exciting step for a hobbyist or the full time photographer looking to shoot something different. It takes patience (in most cases if you are working with small creatures) and a keen eye for that interesting shot. So what do you need to know in order to start into macro photography?
What are you like at judging a photography contest? Do you think you know what goes through the minds of those who hold the fate of contestants in their hands? Soon, the final choices will be made and $1,000 cash will be given to the winner. Check out the images of the 50 chosen finalists and take your pick.
It's been several years since the first predictions that 4K was going to be the new HD in the near future. It is 2020, and here, Tony Northrup tests his own prophecy against the current reality.
The composition is one of the hardest aspects of landscape photography. There are many ways to compose a photo, and having a strong foreground is a common tool to create depth in your photos.
Wildlife photography often involves cropping an image, because you can't always get closer to the subject. This great video explains why you might want to consider your ISO setting a bit more when you know you're going to crop your image.
Canon has been designing and releasing some crazy lenses lately, and it seems they have no intention of slowing down, with a 135mm f/1.4 lens popping up in a recent patent application.
No matter how much we like to complicate it, photography is a relatively simple pleasure. And rather than always focus on the results, it sometimes pays to simply step back and revel in the process.
Editing is no different than shooting – you will get stuck for inspiration at one point or another. But, how can we get through it without losing our mind?
Growing up on comic books and graphic novels I have always been a fan of anything illustrated. When I started taking photos and creating art, I wanted my images to have a similar feel.
Posing is tricky business, and it can be twice as hard when you add in a second person. If you are struggling with posing couples, this excellent video will give you five foundational poses for couples that will help you find success again and again.
The Sony a7R IV was a spectacular camera on paper when it was first released, building on the long history of success and innovation in the R line of cameras. The marquee features were the large bump in resolution and the addition of some impressive autofocus features taken from the a9, along with other improvements, such as better ergonomics. If you have been interested in the camera, this great video review takes a real world look at the camera after six months of usage.
In this video, I go behind the scenes on a drink photography photoshoot working with stylist Natalie Garforth, from set-building through to post-production with a professional retoucher.
Canon’s efforts to push the bounds of what’s normal when it comes to full frame lenses continues apace with the manufacturer reported to have just registered patents for two zoom f/2.8 lenses with exceptional focal ranges.
Leica has just announced the latest version of its classic M series compact rangefinder cameras, the M10 Monochrom. What makes this camera stand out is its 40-megapixel full-frame sensor that records only luminance data and doesn’t capture any color.
One metric of a successful lens that is difficult to measure but highly valuable is "fun." But which lenses are the most fun and why? Here are five of mine.
Whether you're a new photographer looking to create some interesting photos on a budget or an experienced shooter that's looking for a little out-of-the-box thinking for your photography, there are many ways to use household objects to spice up a shoot.
If you are new to Photoshop, you might have heard of Smart Objects, but might be a bit unsure of what they do or why they are so useful. Smart Objects can be tremendously helpful, and this great video tutorial will show you how they work and what you can do with them.
There have been many trends in photography, but one that’s been quickly picking up speed has been the disposable aesthetic, with celebrities creating separate Instagram accounts for their photos captured on film, like model Gigi Hadid, YouTube creator Tana Mongeau, and the app’s founder, YouTube creator David Dobrik, each amassing over 150,000 followers.
For most manufacturers, one of the hangovers from analog cameras is the chunky dial that sits on top. Two of the modes — shutter priority (often S or Tv) and aperture priority (often A or Av) — are becoming increasingly obsolete. Cameras have changed, and so has how we use them, and manufacturers need to keep up.
