A Review of the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II Lens

A 24-70mm f/2.8 lens is the workhorse of choice for a lot of photographers and filmmakers, useful for a huge range of situations and genres. For Sony shooters, there is the new FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II, and this excellent video review takes a look at the lens and the performance and image quality you can expect from it in usage.

Helpful Tips for Better Waterfall Photography

Waterfalls are some of the most popular subjects in landscape photography, able to take an otherwise static scene and add dynamic movement that captures the viewer's attention. It is about more than simply plopping your tripod in front of one, though. This great video tutorial will show you some helpful tips sure to improve your waterfall images.

Why New Photographers Should Buy This Lens

If you are new to photography and working with your first camera, you are probably using a kit lens. However, the beauty of dedicated interchangeable lens cameras is that you can swap out the lens for any one of dozens that better suit your creative and technical needs. This great video tutorial will show you why one particular lens is the best choice for continuing your learning journey.

We Review the Infinite Retouch Portrait Editing Plugin

Portrait retouching is a process that requires consistent, well-practiced technique and an efficient, well-organized workflow to produce professional results in a reasonable amount of time. In this review, we take a look at retoucher Pratik Naik's Infinite Retouch Panel and how it can help you create better results in less time.

Ricoh R1s: The Perfect Pocket Film Camera?

Over the last couple of years, I’ve shot with over 60 point and shoot film cameras. You could say it’s an obsession, perhaps even an illness.

How Good Is the Fujifilm X-H2S Mirrorless Camera for Video Work?

The Fujifilm X-H2S is the company's latest entry in the respected X Series line of mirrorless cameras, and it brings with it a wide range of new features and improvements that make it a fantastic option for photographers and filmmakers alike. This fantastic video review takes a look at the camera's video capabilities and the kind of performance and quality you can expect from it in practice.

We Review the Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/1.4 Lens: A Manual Focus Treasure

Do you have a lens in your collection that brings you joy every time you use it? One that begs to be used because of how beautifully it renders the world around you, and you can’t help but wonder how a specific subject might look when photographed with it? I recently found that lens for myself with the Zeiss Milvus 50mm f/1.4, and to be honest, it has been an unexpected love affair.

A Review of the OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4 PRO Lens

With an 80-300mm equivalent focal length range in a light and compact body, the OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4 PRO looks like the ideal lens for a wide range of applications. Can its performance and image quality keep up with professional demands, though? This excellent video review takes a look to answer that question.

Great Images Don't Require an Expensive Camera

Modern cameras are small marvels of technology, with capabilities that would not have been dreamed of even a decade ago. And while they are wonderful tools to have, it is important to remember that they are still the means, not the end. To help prove that point, this great video shows that you can still create compelling images even with the cheapest cameras.

What To Do When the Sky of Your Landscape Is Just Boring

We all love a great landscape under an amazing sky. Clouds, sunlight, sunrays, and colors are often preferred over a simple and dull sky. But sometimes, nature doesn’t show us the things we like to see, something that can be frustrating if we can’t go back a second time. Is there a solution?

A Simple Guide to Editing Colors in Adobe Lightroom

For most photographers color is a crucial element of their work and one that can have a huge influence on the quality of the final result. There are many ways to manipulate color in post-production, so here is a simple guide for using Adobe Lightroom for that purpose.

4 Reasons Why You Should Try Macro Photography

Macro photography is a genre that just about anyone can try, and it can open up an entirely new world of subjects and opportunities all hiding in plain sight. This great video features an experienced macro photographer discussing four reasons why the genre is addictive fun.

A Review of the New Canon EOS R7 Mirrorless Camera

The Canon 7D series was one of the most popular cameras the manufacturer ever made, offering many of the features of more advanced full frame cameras in smaller and much more affordable bodies. The EOS R7 is its mirrorless successor, and it brings with it a wide range of new features and impressive capabilities. This great video review takes a look at the EOS R7 and the image quality and performance you can expect from it in practice.

The New Way to Buy Gear: Make Money, Save the Planet, Get Your Kit

The industry has been putting out some really hard-to-resist gear these last few years. Ever since Sony released the a7 mirrorless line, it’s been a tsunami of gear upgrade options that seem too good to pass by. Whether it’s the new tack-sharp, image-stabilized Canon RF lenses, the 61-megapixel Sony a7R IV, or the new "creator-ready" Nikon Z 30, it’s not just a case of “Shiny Object Syndrome”: these developments in technology really do reflect in the quality of the work creatives can produce. That’s where MPB comes in.

How to Correctly Place a Softbox When Lighting a Portrait

When it comes to portrait photography, the softbox is one of the most fundamental and versatile tools you can have in your kit. If you are new to working with artificial lighting, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you how to properly place a softbox to get the best results.

How to Compose Photos in Misty Conditions

Misty, foggy conditions can be fantastic for breathing new life into a landscape image composition, but they require a different approach than normal conditions to produce a compelling final image. This helpful video tutorial will give you some useful tips for shooting in misty conditions to ensure you come home with the best possible photos.

The Five Most Photogenic Beaches Around the World

Seascapes have always been one of my favorite subjects to photograph. For most of my travels, I visit and photograph at least one spectacular coastline, and in this article, I share the five most photogenic beaches I have photographed so far.

Fujifilm GFX 100S Versus Leica M11: Who Has the Best Color?

Fujifilm has been compared to Leica for quite some time. In most cases, it's been comparisons between Fujifilm X-mount cameras and Leica M series and Q series cameras. Many of these comparisons tend to focus on color; however, the sensor size advantage remained on the side of Leica. So, how does a full frame Leica fare against a medium format Fujifilm camera?

How to Write a Proper Wedding Photography Contract

No matter what genre you shoot, a good contract is essential to ensuring smooth client interactions and protecting you in case something goes wrong, but in wedding photography, it is a particularly important thing to take care of. This helpful video tutorial will walk you through an effective wedding photography contract to make sure you are on the up and up.

Templates to Save Time in Your Client Workflow

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.

5 Steps to Building a Portrait Photo Composition

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.

A Guide to Retouching a Portrait Using Lightroom and Photoshop

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.

How to Safely Photograph the Sun

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.

A Review of the New Fujifilm Instax Mini Link 2 Printer

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.

Continuous Lights Versus Flash for Portrait Photography

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.

What Does It Mean to Be a Good Photographer?

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.

A Review of the New MacBook Air

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.

Quickly and Easily Archive Photos: We Review the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Scanner

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.

Luminar Neo Is Going Modular: There's Good News and Bad News

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.

How to Use Content-Aware Fill to Fix an Image in Photoshop

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.

A Review of the Fujifilm X-H2S Mirrorless Camera for Photography

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.

Looking for a Creative Community? Try Canon's Incubator

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.

Important Photography Income Streams

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.

Nikon Is Likely Done Creating New DSLRs

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.

Is This Real Landscape Photography?

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.

Creating Interesting Landscape Photos Without Leading Lines

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.

How to Create Eye-Catching Portraits With Just One Light and an Umbrella

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.