Common Natural Light Photography Mistakes

Natural light portraits are quite popular, particularly among newer photographers who are still learning the ins and outs of lighting, camera settings, posing, etc. They can be deceptively complex, however, which leads to some common mistakes. If you are shooting natural light portraits and want to improve your work, check out this fantastic video tutorial that details some of the most common mistakes photographers make. 

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Show us the work YOU wanted to do

Welcome to the September installment of the Critique the Community! This month's critique theme is going to be "Passion Project," and we want to see your best photographs that come from a personal project.

Three Techniques to Help You Take Sharper Landscape Photos

Sharpness is important in almost all photography genres, but it takes on particular importance in landscape photography, where the goal is often to have everything in the frame as crisp as possible. If you want to improve the sharpness of your landscape photos, check out this helpful video tutorial that features three different techniques for getting those shots as crisp as possible. 

Cinematic Video With a 20-Year-Old Camcorder

Are you a fan of the 4:3 aspect ratio? There's definitely something nostalgic about the nearly square framing that instantly transports me back to my childhood in the late 1980s. Aside from that, I’m overjoyed that it’s no longer in widespread use.

The Best and Worst Parts of the Sony a7 IV Mirrorless Camera

The Sony a7 IV, one of the most highly anticipated cameras of recent years, is here, and it brings with it a range of new photo and video features and improvements, making it again one of the most balanced cameras out there, at least on paper. How does it hold up in practice? This excellent video discusses some of the best and worst aspects.

Relight Your Portraits: Testing Out Luminar Neo's New AI Tool

Artificial intelligence has begun to have a real impact in photography via post-processing. This may be a contentious subject, but whichever side of the fence you are, it's interesting to see what it's capable of. In this video by Manny Ortiz, he reworks some images with Luminar's Relight tool.

Tips to Create Better Landscape Images

When you are first starting, landscape photography can seem daunting, especially when you see all of the beautiful images others post online. Here are a few ideas taken from my experience that may help you find more success as a landscape photographer.

More Canon Cameras Are Coming in 2022

Canon started out slowly in the mirrorless space, but they exploded forward with the release of the EOS R5 and RF 28-70mm f/2L USM, showing they could go toe to toe in specs and that they had no intention of relinquishing their crown for creating some of the most extreme and innovative lenses. It looks like the company won't be letting off the gas, with more cameras likely to come later this year.

A Review of the Viltrox 35mm f/1.8 AF Lens

35mm has always been a popular focal length, offering a wide but still fairly neutral view that is useful for a huge range of applications from astrophotography to portraits and more. There are tons of 35mm lenses to choose from out there, and this excellent video review takes a look at one of the more affordable options, the Viltrox 35mm f/1.8 AF. 

A Review of the Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G Lens

A wide angle prime lens that comes with a large aperture can tackle a range of situations, such as astrophotography, weddings, and more. For Sony shooters, there is the FE 20mm f/1.8 G, and this excellent video review takes a look at the sort of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice. 

How Good Is the New Leica M11 Camera?

Leica's M11 has hit the market, and it brings with it a variety of improved and entirely new features that help to modernize the company's M series. This great video review takes a look at the new M11 and the kind of performance and image quality you can expect from it in practice. 

A Review of the Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE II Lens

Wide-aperture 50mm lenses are quite popular for good reason, as they offer a very neutral focal length in tandem with narrow depth of field and low-light performance, making them quite versatile for a wide range of applications. They run a huge gamut of prices, however, from under $100 to well over $2,000. This excellent video review takes a look at a mid-range option that could be the right combination of price and quality for a lot of shooters, the Samyang AF 50mm f/1.4 FE II. 

Mistakes Every Beginner Landscape Photographer Makes

If you are new to landscape photography, it can be easy to feel a bit overwhelmed by all the things you have to master and keep track of to produce a compelling final image, which can sometimes lead to making mistakes. This helpful video tutorial discusses some of the most common mistakes beginner landscape photographers make and how you can correct them or avoid them altogether. 

Take Better Control of Your Photoshop Edits Using These Layer Mask Techniques

Photoshop is a tremendously complicated and intricate application, and for any one task, there are often three or four methods to get the results you want. One of the most fundamental skills you will need is the ability to work with layer masks effectively, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you three ways to use layer mask density to take better control of your editing. 

6 Lessons Learned From Master Landscape Photographers

Landscape photography is a challenging genre that takes the confluence of a variety of techniques, creative mindsets, planning, and often, just a bit of luck. It also has a storied history with a long line of master photographers. So, what can we learn from those masters? This great video discusses six tips gleaned from their work. 

A Decade of Fujifilm's X Series

Fujifilm's X series of cameras began a little over a decade ago as quirky, unique bodies, but in the time since, they have evolved into powerful tools used by many professionals while still maintaining those interesting designs that captured the imaginations of many users many years ago. This neat video takes a look at the X-Pro1 and how it holds up a decade later. 

How Handheld Focus Stacking Works

I always take a tripod with me in addition to my camera when I'm out on a hiking or scouting trip because there can always be an unexpected photo opportunity. And since I apply focus stacking to nearly all of my photos to ensure optimal sharpness, photographing handheld is not an option. Or is it? In this article, I show you how to use the automatic focus bracketing feature of modern cameras to perform handheld focus stacking.